Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Help to Buy Scheme

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many staff work on the Help to Buy Customer Service team.

Lee Rowley: In October, an average of 102 customer service advisers dealt with Help to Buy customer queries. This number will fluctuate dependent on demand.

Shared Ownership Schemes

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of shared ownership properties there are in (a) London and (b) England.

Lee Rowley: The Regulator of Social Housing collects and publishes information on low-cost home ownership housing owned by registered providers, including shared ownership. This information is available at the following link.These data does not include information on units owned by non-registered providers. Shared ownership comprises the majority of the wider category of low-cost home ownership but cannot be separately identified from the available data.

Buildings: Disability

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2023 to Question 195098 on Buildings: Disability, when he plans to publish the results of the research on the demographics, ergonomic requirements and experiences of disabled people commissioned as part of the review relating to part M of the building regulations.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 195098 on 6 September 2023.

Countryside: Access

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many officials in his Department work on access to nature; and what the full-time equivalent of those officials is.

Simon Hoare: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities and Local Government’s role in policy on access to nature and open and green spaces spans planning policy, levelling up funding and communities policy. Staff in the department often work across a range of policy areas which may include work on access to nature and therefore it is not possible to specify exact numbers.The Department publishes an organogram showing all staff roles at the following link.

Local Government: Bankruptcy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of local authorities at risk of issuing a Section 114 notice in the next six months.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of local authorities that will issue section 114 notices in the next 12 months.

Simon Hoare: I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question HL604 on 11 December 2023 and to the written statement made on 18 December 2023 entitled Local Government Finance Update (HCWS148).

Refugees: Afghanistan

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Oral Statement from the Minister for Veteran Affairs of 13 December 2023 on Afghan Resettlement Update, Official Report, column 911, what estimate he has made of the number of people that will be housed in temporary accommodation in (a) December 2023, (b) January 2024 and (c) February 2024.

Felicity Buchan: The majority of Afghan families have been successfully moved out of bridging accommodation into longer-term accommodation. Less than 15% of households in bridging hotels at the end of March 2023 are owed a homelessness duty and in local authority temporary accommodation.The Government has made £35 million of funding available for local authorities to provide increased support for Afghan households to move from hotels into settled accommodation.There is also a similar package of support in place to help those who are due to arrive in the next few months. Government is supporting efforts to ensure households are matched, where possible, into accommodation ahead of their travel. Where this is not possible transitional accommodation will be provided for the short period of time until the property they are matched to is ready for them, or whilst they are waiting for a suitable match. The Government is working to ensure a sufficient pipeline of properties are available to local authorities to use to accommodate these families, before the transitional accommodation closes. Ultimately a small number may end up relying on local homelessness prevention and funding is provided to cover this eventuality.We will continue to support the Afghan cohort into settled housing, including through the £450 million third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund which follows the first two rounds of £750 million. This funding will help ensure those local authorities which have been most generous in welcoming arrivals are not penalised with longer social housing waiting list..

Energy: Conservation

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the British energy security strategy, published on 7 April 2022, for what reason his Department's review of the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures has not yet been completed.

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to page 13 of his Department's publication entitled British energy security strategy, published on 7 April 2022, what her planned timeline is to publish the proposed review into the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures.

Lee Rowley: The review into the practical barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures has been completed and we will publish a report on the outcome in due course.

Hate Crime: Sikhs

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of hate crime against the Sikh community in the last 10 years; and what steps he is taking to tackle such crime.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether police forces are taking steps to increase Sikh community (a) engagement with and (b) trust in police handling of security concerns raised by such communities.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to support Sikh communities in tackling (a) threats and (b) other hate crimes.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of his Department's policies in preventing (a) hate crime and (b) other discrimination against members of (i) the Sikh community and (ii) other minority communities.

Lee Rowley: Hatred towards Sikhs is completely abhorrent and has no place in our society. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it. In 2023/24, the Home Office is providing £3.5 million for protecting places of worship, including for gurdwaras.More broadly, we continue to look across Government at how best we can tackle all forms of religious hatred.Questions relating to policing are a matter for the Home Department.

Affordable Housing

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Homes England Investment Partners for the Affordable Homes Programme have filed for insolvency.

Lee Rowley: The department has not been made aware of any Investment Partners in the Affordable Homes Programme that have become insolvent.

Owner Occupation

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department collects on levels of home ownership.

Lee Rowley: The department’s main source of information on home ownership is the English Housing Survey. The full report with data tables is published here.

Permitted Development Rights

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what is his planned timetable for the consultation on a new Permitted Development Right for subdividing houses into two flats.

Lee Rowley: Announcements will be set out in the usual way.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Israel: Palestinians

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an estimate of the number of Palestinian children (a) arrested by the Israeli authorities and (b) held under administrative detention since 7 October 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has made plain its concern about the continued reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli military detention, particularly relating children, however we cannot give an accurate estimate of the number of the number of children arrested or detained. The UK is committed to working with Israel to secure improvements in its detention practices and repeatedly calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law. This has been raised by both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Israel: Palestinians

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the 12 December 2023 United Nations General Assembly resolution on Israel-Palestine.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As our Ambassador to the UN has said, we are gravely concerned about the desperate situation in Gaza. The scale of civilian deaths and displacement in Gaza cannot continue. As the Prime Minister said, no one wants to see this conflict go on a moment longer than necessary. We urgently need more humanitarian pauses, to get all the hostages out and life-saving aid into Gaza to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. We of course want to see a peaceful resolution to the conflict, which means supporting a sustainable ceasefire. Long-term peace in the Middle East requires a viable two-state solution, and leaving Hamas in power in Gaza would be a permanent roadblock on the path to this; Israel cannot be expected to live alongside a terrorist organisation committed to its destruction, dedicated to repeating the attacks. Along with our partners, the UK will redouble our efforts to find a pathway to achieve two states for two peoples.

Gaza: Israel

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has taken steps to monitor the Israeli military's compliance with international law in its military engagements in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have met with a range of senior Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog, to discuss Israel's approach to the campaign in Gaza. They have stressed the critical importance of abiding by International Humanitarian Law, minimising civilian casualties, and of acting in a way that delivers long-term security.

Israel: Palestinians

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the announcement by the Secretary of State on 14 December 2023, whether any of the settlers who will be banned from entering the UK are British passport holders.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the announcement by the Secretary of State on 14 December 2023, whether his Department holds data on how many of those who are responsible for settler violence in the West Bank are British nationals.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are clear that extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability when Israelis and Palestinians are desperate for both, and have urged Israel to take stronger action to stop settler violence and hold the perpetrators accountable. As the Foreign Secretary said on 14 December, we are now banning those responsible for settler violence from entering the UK, to make sure our country cannot be a home for people who commit these intimidating acts. This will involve making use of existing disruptive immigration measures at our disposal. We are not in a position to comment on individual cases.

Israel: Children

Deidre Brock: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether the Government has had discussions with Israeli counterparts on the (a) detention of children in Israeli military prisons and (b) allegations of potential human rights abuses against prisoners.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is committed to working with Israel to secure improvements in detention practices in Israel. We have made plain our concern about the continued reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli military detention, particularly of children. The UK repeatedly calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and we have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation.

Israel: Hamas

Beth Winter: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if his Department will make an assessment of whether parties to the Israel-Hamas conflict have committed (a) war crimes and (b) other breaches of international law.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is a strong supporter of international justice and the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC). As an independent organisation, it is for the ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan to decide upon the focus of his investigations. The UK continues to call for International Humanitarian Law to be respected and civilians to be protected.

Israel: West Bank

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to take steps to support inquiries by the International Criminal Court into potential breaches of international law by the Israeli Government in relation to the activities of Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is a strong supporter of international justice and respects the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC), this is a matter for the Court.

United Arab Emirates: Human Rights and Political Prisoners

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he had  discussions with his UAE counterpart during COP 28 on reports that UAE has (a) brought new charges against (i) internationally recognised human rights defenders and (ii) other political prisoners and b) held a mass trial.

David Rutley: The UK Government believes that freedom of expression is a universal human right and citizens must be allowed to freely discuss and debate issues, challenge their governments and make informed decisions in accordance with international human rights law. We encourage all states, including the United Arab Emirates' (UAE), to uphold international human rights obligations. We recommended in our response to the UAE Universal Periodic Review that the UAE authorities guarantee the rights of people in the UAE to express their views and assemble peacefully, in line with international human rights law now and in future. We expressed disappointment during the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023 that the UAE did not adopt our recommendation.  We are aware of the reports referenced, which emerged on 12 December as COP28 was concluding. FCDO Ministers have not met with their counterparts since the reports emerged.

Israel: Visas

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has plans to impose visa bans on Israeli settlers committing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As the Foreign Secretary said on 14 December, we are now banning those responsible for settler violence from entering the UK, to make sure our country cannot be a home for people who commit these intimidating acts. Extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability when Israelis and Palestinians are desperate for both. We have urged Israel to address extremist settler violence in the West Bank and hold those responsible to account; any perpetrators of settler violence against civilians must be arrested and prosecuted.

Gaza: Israel

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps he has taken to (a) encourage the Israeli Government to uphold international law and (b) ensure the protection of (i) journalists and (ii) citizens in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We recognise the valuable work of journalists operating on the ground in Gaza, providing important coverage of the conflict in incredibly challenging circumstances. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have both met the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and have stressed to him that Israel must protect all civilians as far as possible and abide by International Humanitarian Law; under International Humanitarian Law, journalists covering conflicts should be afforded protection. We continue to press both at the UN and directly with Israel for unhindered humanitarian access and substantive humanitarian pauses, to ensure the conditions are safe for humanitarian organisations to deliver aid to those in need and give respite to civilians.The UK also supported the recent Media Freedom Coalition statement expressing concern over the repercussions for the safety of journalists and access to information caused by the serious escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. It called on all parties to the conflict to comply with international law and guarantee the protection of journalists and media workers covering the conflict.

Gaza: Journalism

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has held with the(a) the United Nations, (b) Israeli government and (c) Palestinian authority on steps to improve the safety of (i) journalists and (ii) other media professionals covering the conflict in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We recognise the valuable work of journalists operating on the ground in Gaza, providing important coverage of the conflict in incredibly challenging circumstances. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have both met the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and have stressed to him that Israel must protect all civilians as far as possible and abide by International Humanitarian Law; under International Humanitarian Law, journalists covering conflicts should be afforded protection. We continue to press both at the UN and directly with Israel for unhindered humanitarian access and substantive humanitarian pauses, to ensure the conditions are safe for humanitarian organisations to deliver aid to those in need and give respite to civilians.The UK also supported the recent Media Freedom Coalition statement expressing concern over the repercussions for the safety of journalists and access to information caused by the serious escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. It called on all parties to the conflict to comply with international law and guarantee the protection of journalists and media workers covering the conflict.

Israel: International Criminal Court

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made representations to the Israeli Government to encourage Israel to become a state party to the International Criminal Court.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We have always supported the Court's aim to increase its membership. Notwithstanding, as a State Party to the Geneva Conventions, 1949, the Israeli Government is obliged to take action against Israeli nationals accused of grave breaches of IHL. It is for the Israeli domestic judicial system to investigate, and where appropriate to try or extradite those accused of grave breaches of International Humanitarian Law.

Artificial Intelligence: Disinformation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the potential risks associated with AI-generated misinformation.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will make it easier, quicker, and cheaper for malign actors to spread false information. The UK is engaging internationally to manage risks on AI-generated foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation. The FCDO is growing its capability to assess and respond to the full range of information threats by hostile actors, working closely with international partners. The UK is an international leader in AI, and convened the first global AI Safety Summit where, amongst other risks, participants noted AI's ability to amplify risks such as disinformation and misinformation as a concern to be urgently addressed. The UK also plays a leading role in international AI governance discussions, through the Council of Europe, G7, G20, the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Guyana: Politics and Government

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary General of the Commonwealth on the situation in Guyana.

David Rutley: The Minister of State for Development and Africa and I [Minister Rutley] have spoken with the Secretary General about the need for the Commonwealth to demonstrate support for Guyana. As a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana, the UK was pleased to attend an emergency session of the Group on 11 December which resulted in a strong statement of support. I visited Guyana on 18 December to show UK and Commonwealth support for its territorial integrity.

British Overseas Territories: Non-native Species

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the issue of invasive species in the Overseas Territories.

David Rutley: The FCDO, together with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), is providing support to conservation and biodiversity projects in the UK Overseas Territories (OT) including those that tackle the issue of invasive species. The St Helena Cloud Forest project, funded by the cross-government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, includes invasive species clearance at replanting sites and invasive invertebrate monitoring and management.The Darwin Plus competitive grants scheme, hosted by DEFRA, has supported a number of projects that aim to tackle the threat posed by invasive non-native species to biodiversity and endemic species in the OTs and welcomes further applications for projects in this area. DEFRA work in combination with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and The Food and Environment Research Agency to bolster biosecurity capacity.

British Overseas Territories: Biodiversity

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the stability of biodiversity in the Overseas Territories.

David Rutley: The Government is investing in the development of indicators to contribute to the provision of an evidence base for future biodiversity conservation efforts in the Overseas Territories (OTs). This includes reporting on species that are unique to the OTs and the status of protected areas in the OTs. The Government is also working closely with the OTs to develop a new shared Overseas Territories Biodiversity Strategy. The new strategy is being designed to benefit all OTs, providing a tool to guide and attract long-term investment in OT biodiversity, and highlighting the importance of building a stronger evidence base for biodiversity conservation efforts in the OTs.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department takes to help safeguard the (a) rights and (b) welfare of British nationals detained overseas.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department takes to (a) monitor and (b) intervene on human rights concerns raised in relation to British citizens detained overseas.

David Rutley: Our consular staff endeavour to give appropriate and tailored support to British nationals overseas and their families in the UK, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. We help around 30,000 British nationals abroad every year.Consular staff work tirelessly to give support to the c.4000 British nationals who are arrested or detained each year. Our support is tailored to the needs of the individual and their situation. This includes raising individual cases with the relevant overseas authorities, including at Ministerial level, where appropriate.What we can and cannot do is set out in our public guidance on gov.uk. It includes further and updated information on what we can seek to do for victims of torture and mistreatment, and for those detained overseas. The level and type of assistance we offer is tailored to the individual circumstances of each case but we take all allegations of torture or mistreatment very seriously, treat those who have made allegations of torture and mistreatment as vulnerable cases and follow up with action appropriate to the circumstances of each case. The FCDO records all information about allegations of torture and mistreatment reported to us by British Nationals, and any actions taken in response to those allegations.

Guyana: Venezuela

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Venezuela on the border dispute with Guyana in the last three months.

David Rutley: The UK Government does not recognise the legitimacy of the Maduro regime. The recent steps taken by Venezuela with respect to the Essequibo region of Guyana are unjustified and should cease. The UK supports Guyana's territorial integrity. We are clear that the border was settled in 1899 through international arbitration. The statement by Venezuela in St Vincent confirming that it will refrain from the use of force and any further escalation is welcome and it must be followed by concrete actions. We will continue to work with our partners in the region and internationally to ensure respect for Guyana's sovereignty. I [Minister Rutley] visited Guyana on 18 December to show UK support for the Guyanese people on this vital issue.

Cabinet Office

Prime Minister: Correspondence

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Prime Minister plans to respond to the letter of 27 November 2023 from the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk and Lord Scriven on Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei.

Alex Burghart: As stated in the answer of 7 December 2023, Official Report, House of Lords, PQ HL571, this is a matter for the Conservative Party, rather than the Government.

Covid-19 Inquiry: Expenditure

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on the case of Cabinet Office v Chair of Covid Inquiry, [2023] EWHC 1702 (Admin).

Alex Burghart: This judicial review was brought to seek clarification on a point of law and we were pleased that the Court agreed that there was an important legal question to consider. It acknowledged our concerns over respecting the privacy of individuals and ensuring that irrelevant information is returned and not retained by the Inquiry. The total legal costs for the case of the Cabinet Office v Chair of the COVID-19 Inquiry were £192,739. We have fully cooperated with, and continue to cooperate with, the Inquiry having provided over 56,000 documents to the Inquiry so far.

Civil Servants: Location

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil service jobs previously based in Whitehall have been permanently relocated outside of London and the South East since 2019.

John Glen: Since March 2020, over 16,000 roles have been relocated from London through the Places for Growth programme and 31% of UK-based SCS roles are now based outside London. Places for Growth aims to relocate 22,000 roles outside of London by 2027.

Veterans: Military Decorations

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Sir John Holmes' Military Medals Review, published in July 2012,whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of conducting a further review into a National Defence Medal.

Johnny Mercer: I refer the Hon. Member to my response dated 12th June to UIN 187235.

Department for Work and Pensions

Unemployment: Medical Treatments

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5438, if he will make an estimate of the number of people that are waiting for (a) trauma and (b) orthopaedic treatment and are unable to work until they receive treatment as of 12 December 2023; and what steps he is taking to help these people re-enter the workforce.

Mims Davies: The Department has not made such an assessment.The Government is taking several steps to help support people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. In the Spring Budget, the government set out a package of measures to tackle the leading health-related causes keeping people out of work, including people with MSK conditions: Introducing employment advisors within MSK services, including to support people with MSK conditions to thrive in work;Developing and scaling up MSK hubs in the Community, building on the example of delivering physical activity interventions in local leisure and community centre venues.Making best use of digital health technologies to support people with MSK conditions to better manage symptoms and remain in the workforce. This will include providing access to digital therapeutics for MSK problems. As announced in the Autumn Statement, to tackle rising economic inactivity, government is investing £2.5 billion over the next five years, building on the existing package of support that helps disabled people and individuals with health conditions, including MSK, to work. This includes: a WorkWell service that will join up employment and health support at the local level to help keep people in work. WorkWell services will be in place from Autumn 2024 and will be delivered in approximately 15 pilot areas.Doubling of Universal Support, a new, voluntary employment programme for inactive disabled people and those with health conditions and additional barriers to employment, from 50,000 people a year announced in Spring Budget to 100,000 people a year once fully rolled out.Improving the quality of occupational health for employers through the development of new voluntary national baseline for employers to help them retain and recruit disabled workers.An expansion of access to mental health services, increasing the number of people accessing NHS Talking Therapies to benefit an additional 384,000 people over the next five years and helping an additional 100,000 people with severe mental illness to find and keep jobs in that same period through Individual Placement and Support (IPS)

Jobcentres: Staff

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average caseload of a Jobcentre Universal Credit case manager was in the most recent period for which data is available.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average caseload of a Jobcentre work coach was in the most recent period for which data is available.

Jo Churchill: There is no set minimum/maximum or optimum caseload size. The net claims per Case Manager is circa 1,500, this excludes: Claims with no Identity Verification – older than 30 days; Suspended claims; Claims with open ‘additional action close claims’ to-do; Claims with consecutive nil payments; Claims with a Case Manager not based in a Service Centre; Claims without a Case Manager.The size of a Work Coach caseload will vary as it is dependent on several factors, including the level of customer support required, the needs of the local labour market and the experience and working pattern of each Work Coach. For November, our case loads of Intensive Work Search customers averaged 113 cases per Universal Credit Work Coach.

Department for Work and Pensions: Power Failures

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there have been any power cuts on their Department's property in each of the last three years.

Paul Maynard: The DWP’s FM supplier has investigated the number of power cuts across the estate by accumulating data from the appropriate work order service line on their system (Electrical-Power Cuts-HS- Local cut or partial cut) for the current, and last 3 years. The results are as follows: YearCount2020169202119820222052023256Grand Total828

Restart Scheme

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2023 to Question 208 on Restart Scheme, for what reason the Customer Satisfaction Measure results of the Restart Scheme are not published.

Jo Churchill: DWP publish Key Performance Indicators for the Restart Scheme, which includes the overall Customer Satisfaction Measure rate. The full results are used internally to improve delivery.

Department of Health and Social Care

Electronic Cigarettes and Oral Tobacco

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is her Department's policy to restrict the future availability of Snus and vapes.

Andrea Leadsom: The sale of oral tobacco, such as Snus, is banned in the United Kingdom under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.Vapes are less harmful than smoking because they do not contain tobacco, and therefore can be an effective tool in supporting smoking cessation. Vaping is already estimated to contribute to an extra 50,000 to 70,000 smoking quits per year in England. Ensuring that vapes continue to be available to current adult smokers is vital to reducing smoking rates.However, the number of children using vapes has tripled in the past 3 years. To tackle this, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce measures to restrict the appeal and availability of vapes to children.To support this, we recently consulted on a set of proposals to reduce youth vaping, ensuring we get the balance right between protecting our children and supporting adult smokers to quit. We will respond to the consultation in the coming weeks.

Obesity

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many obesity-related hospital admissions there were in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: Data for admissions related to obesity and hyperalimentation is only available from 2019 when it was first collected. The following table shows the number of these hospital admissions since 2019:YearAdmissions2022/20238,9702021/20227,9352020/20214,0952019/202011,025Source: NHS England

Primary Care Networks: Expenditure

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much from the public purse his Department has spent on the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Andrea Leadsom: The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme cost £519 million in 2021/22, the most recent year for which published data is available. Expenditure for 2022/23 will be available as part of the Investment in General Practice Report in early 2024.

Primary Care Networks: General Practitioners

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include GPs in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: Changes to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme are made as part of wider changes to the GP contract. As per the commitment set out in Changes to the GP Contract in 2023/24, we have engaged the profession, patients, integrated care systems, and other key stakeholders over the summer via an Expert Advisory Group, to inform the future general practitioner contract. Changes to the 2024/25 contract are subject to consultation with the British Medical Association General Practitioners Committee.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the NHS of alcohol use.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the cost of alcohol use to employers.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department estimated the cost of alcohol consumption to society to be £25 billion in 2021. The previous estimate published in the 2012 Government’s Alcohol Strategy was updated to reflect inflation. Using the same approach, the cost of alcohol to the National Health Service would be £4.2 billion in 2021. The specific cost to employers has not been estimated separately.The Department has initiated a longer-term piece of work to refine the estimated cost of alcohol to society. This work has begun with a review of existing evidence of the impact of alcohol consumption on the National Health Service and labour market productivity.

General Practitioners: Hornsey and Wood Green

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to recruit more General Practitioners in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: We are working with NHS England to increase the general practitioner (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.We have increased the number of GP training places, and last year saw 4,032 trainee doctors accept a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.The North Central London Training Hub administers local delivery of the NHS England General Practice Fellowship programme, which aims to support recruitment of newly qualified GPs into local general practices, including Hornsey Wood Green. The training hub also works with health and care partners locally to create portfolio roles to attract newly qualified GPs to take up salaried roles. These portfolio roles support wider population health needs identified within the borough.

Dental Services and Prescriptions:  Pregnancy

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of maternity exemption certificates that were issued in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: The following table shows the number of maternity exemption certificates issued between 2019 and 2023 to date:Calendar YearMaternity Exemption Certificates Issued2019483,2992020444,6702021463,2142022471,6032023 (as of 15 December)524,279Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a commission on addressing alcohol harm.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish an alcohol harm reduction strategy in this Parliament.

Andrea Leadsom: Work is already ongoing on a range of other strategies and plans to reduce alcohol harm. The Government takes a wide-ranging approach to addressing alcohol-related harms through commitments in the Prevention Green Paper to increase the availability of no- and low-alcohol alternatives, the establishment of alcohol care teams in the 25% acute hospitals in England with the greatest need through the NHS Long Term Plan, and improvements to the alcohol and drug treatment system through the 10-year Drug Strategy.

Obesity: Health Education

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to raise public awareness of obesity-linked illnesses.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department is committed to action on obesity including raising awareness of obesity related illness. The Department’s ‘Better Health’ campaigns provide resources including free evidence-based digital tools, highlight health effects of obesity, and support people to make and sustain changes to improve their health. They include the Better Health websites, email programmes, and NHS Weight Loss, Food Scanner, Couch to 5K and Active 10 apps.The NHS Health Check assesses the top risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes, including body mass index. Each year the programme engages over one million people aged between 40 and 74 years old and identifies around 317,000 people living with obesity who are made aware of the risks of developing CVD and diabetes and are then provided with advice and support to reduce their risk and referral for treatment if needed.We have also recently published a Major Conditions Strategy case for change which highlights risk factors, such as obesity, in contributing to diseases that are collectively the greatest contributors to ill-health and early mortality. We will be publishing a final strategy next year.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people still required to shield can access (a) in person and (b) other essential health services.

Maria Caulfield: The COVID-19 shielding programme for people identified as clinically extremely vulnerable was formally ended by the government in September 2021. The decision to end the programme was based on there being more information available on the virus and what makes individuals more or less vulnerable, the success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme and the emergence of effective treatments for the disease However, because a smaller number of immunosuppressed people may remain at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, despite vaccination, the Government has put in place a range of enhanced protection measures including treatments, booster vaccines, free lateral flow tests and public health advice for these individuals on keeping themselves safe. More information can be found in COVID-19: guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk, updated on 13 November 2023, and is available at the following link:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-risk/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-risk

Incontinence: Health Services

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2023 to Question 3997 on Incontinence: Health Services, whether her Department plans to engage stakeholders during the course of the National Bladder and Bowel Health Project.

Andrew Stephenson: There have been no formal plans for stakeholder engagement set out at this stage. However, the Department remains open to future engagement with bladder and bowel health stakeholders.Beyond the project in question, the Department continues to engage with stakeholders including commissioners, providers, and clinicians and also cancer charities on Bowel Cancer screening, including a planned meeting with UK National Screening Committee on bowel cancer screening in January 2024.

Pharmacy

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the proportion of pharmacists who supply prescription-only medicines without a GP appointment for (a) sinusitis, (b) sore throat, (c) earache, (d) infected insect bite, (e) impetigo, (f) shingles, and (g) uncomplicated urinary tract infections.

Andrea Leadsom: No data is collected on prescription-only medicines supplied privately for these conditions by community pharmacists. There are a small number of local National Health Service schemes that allow for the supply by community pharmacists of prescription-only medicines for some of these conditions, but data is not collected centrally. From early next year, the Pharmacy First service, enabling all community pharmacists to supply prescription-only medicines for the seven common conditions listed, will be nationally commissioned by the NHS. Community pharmacies have been able to register to deliver the service since 1 December and more than half have already done so.

Health Services

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ICBs have introduced self-referral routes for (a) fall services, (b) musculoskeletal services, (c) audiology for older people, (d) weight management services, (e) community podiatry and (f) wheelchair and community equipment as of 12 November 2023.

Andrea Leadsom: The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care asked systems to expand self-referral in seven community-based services from September 2023. By that time, integrated care boards (ICBs) reported over 600 services offering self-referral routes which is a 31% increase from August 2023, with expansion taking place across all seven service areas.We are continuing to support ICBs expand further via a range of activities including communities of practice to share experiences and learning across the country.

General Practitioners

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices have signed up to the general practice improvement programme as of 12 December 2023.

Andrea Leadsom: The General Practice Improvement Programme (GPIP) was introduced as part of the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, published in May 2023. It provides tailored support for practices and primary care networks (PCNs) to make changes and improvements to how they work. It focuses on helping general practice teams to get patients to the right care from the right person at the right time; improving equity, safety and continuity; and reducing pressure on the workforce.   As of 7 December, more than 1,200 practices have benefited from the programme. Registration is currently open for a further two cohorts of support for practices.

Health Services: Greater London

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was received by (a) North East London Integrated Care System and (b) other London trusts in the 2022-23 financial year.

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the total funding for (a) the NHS North East London Integrated Care Board and (b) other Integrated Care Boards in London is capital funding.

Andrew Stephenson: The total funding received by the North East London Integrated Care Board (ICB) and other London ICBs in financial year 2022/23 is set out in the below table (rounded to the nearest 100,000), alongside the relevant capital funding figures. The figures for capital funding exclude IFRS 16 and primary care allocations.ICBTotal fundingTotal capital fundingCapital proportion of total fundingNorth Central London£3,301,800£218,6006.6%North East London£3,700,000£99,7002.7%North West London£4,645,600£213,0004.6%South East London£3,343,100£221,9006.6%South West London£2,498,200£138,2005.5%

Care Homes: Standards

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the quality of care for the elderly in care homes.

Helen Whately: The quality and safety of care provided in care homes is monitored and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – the independent regulator for health and social care in England. Inspection reports on individual providers are made publicly available, and the CQC publishes annual data in their State of Care report. The most recent report (20 October 2023) showed 83% of residential care homes being rated as good or outstanding, and 79% of nursing care homes being rated as good or outstanding. For most people therefore, the experience of adult social care and support is positive. The Government is looking to further improve the quality of care, including for the over 65 year olds in care homes, by transforming how we hold local authorities to account for the care they commission. The new duty for CQC to assess how local authorities are delivering their Care Act duties has begun and will identify where further support is needed.

General Practitioners

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of ensuring that patients are always able to see the same GP for each visit.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government recognises the importance of the relationship between patients and their general practitioner (GP). However, in some cases patients may prefer to see another professional from the wider general practice workforce instead of a specific GP.While the Government has not made an estimate of the cost of ensuring that patients are able to see the same GP for each visit, all patients must be assigned a named GP. Practices must endeavour to comply with all reasonable requests for a patient to see a particular GP or other healthcare professional for an appointment.

Electronic Cigarettes: Nicotine

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the accuracy of information supplied with vapes about the level of nicotine they contain.

Andrea Leadsom: Vapes are substantially less harmful than cigarettes and can be an effective tool for adult smokers to quit. However, the Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, with youth vaping tripling in the last three years. Due to nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping carries risks to health and lifelong addiction for children. The health advice is clear, young people and people who have never smoked should not vape.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the competent authority for the notification scheme for vapes in the United Kingdom. Manufacturers of vapes must submit information such as nicotine content and dosage to the MHRA for approval and sale on the UK market.To help tackle illicit products, we have set up a new illicit vapes unit to bolster our enforcement capacity in Trading Standards and undertake testing of products on the market. In addition, in October this year, we announced £30 million of new funding to enforcement agencies to tackle the illicit and underage sale of vapes and tobacco.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of excluding ADHD spend from Mental Health Investment Standard money and Mental Health service development funding on (a) waiting lists and (b) ICB core funding.

Maria Caulfield: No such assessment has been made. We expect integrated care boards to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard so that investment in mental health services increases in line with their overall increase in allocation for that year. All but one of the integrated care boards met the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2022/23.

Vaccination: Side Effects

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what methods (a) GPs and (b) other healthcare providers use to register adverse events following immunisation; and what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of those methods in accurately reflecting the (a) number and (b) type of adverse events following immunisation.

Maria Caulfield: Since the start of the COVID-19 vaccines campaign, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been working in close collaboration across the healthcare system to ensure healthcare professionals and patients are aware of the Yellow Card scheme and how they can report to us. The Yellow Card scheme relies on voluntary reporting of suspected side effects or medical device incidents. The reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is considered a healthcare professionals’ duty and is supported by their various regulators and their respective professional guidance.Information on Yellow Card reporting has been included in National Health Service training materials, as well as the materials available to individuals both before and after vaccination. Both vaccine recipients and healthcare professionals are strongly encouraged to report any suspicion of a side effect to the MHRA. Additionally, the MHRA have worked to actively promote reporting on COVID-19 vaccines from the public, patients and healthcare with a targeted marketing campaign. Healthcare professionals can also report to the scheme via their clinical systems, reporting of ADRs to the Yellow Card Scheme is available in at least 93% of primary medical care practices in the United Kingdom.The reporting rate for spontaneous adverse drug reactions (ADR) is variable and can depend on a multitude of factors. For the COVID-19 vaccines, MHRA assessments show that there is a higher-than-normal public awareness of Yellow Card reporting and therefore the reporting rate for these products is expected to be higher. The World Health Organization’s Uppsala Monitoring Centre latest annual report shows that globally, the UK is the third largest contributor of reports, behind the USA and Germany, and also one of the highest reporting countries per million inhabitants in its global database.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken recent steps with (a) Health Education England and (b) Royal Colleges to provide information to health professionals on treating people who are vulnerable to the health effects of air pollution.

Maria Caulfield: Guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence includes recommendations on advice health professionals can give to people who may be particularly affected by poor outdoor and indoor air quality. The guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng70Standards for education and training of healthcare professionals are the responsibility of the independent statutory regulatory bodies. The Department engages regularly with health professional bodies, but it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in the design of standards of proficiency or the design of curricula. This is to respect the independence and expertise of regulators and universities in designing standards and curricula that ensure public safety.The Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2022 focused on air pollution and includes an assessment of the evidence on health risks associated with poor air quality. The report is available at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution

Loneliness and Social Prescribing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make tackling loneliness and social isolation a public health priority.

Maria Caulfield: We recognise that loneliness and social isolation can affect many people and impact on their health and wellbeing. In October 2018 the Department of Culture, Media and Sport published the world’s first ever cross-government strategy to tackle loneliness ‘A connected society: a strategy for tackling loneliness’.Social prescribing is a key component of the National Health Service’s Universal Personalised Care and can work well for those who are lonely or socially isolated. Social Prescribing link workers take a holistic approach to people’s health and wellbeing. They connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. Social prescribing can work well for those who are socially isolated. Social prescribing activities are commissioned locally, utilising community assets often in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector.

Miscarriage: Mental Health Services

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the level of mental health support available to bereaved parents following miscarriage and baby loss and (b) potential merits of allocating additional resources for such care.

Maria Caulfield: We are committed to expanding and transforming mental health services in England so that people, including those affected by a miscarriage or the loss of a baby, can get the help and support that they need, when they need it.The Pregnancy Loss Review was published earlier this year and made 73 recommendations on improving the care and support women and families receive when experiencing a pre-24-week gestation baby loss. Our response sets out in detail what actions the Government intends to take immediately to progress 20 recommendations in relation to a number of key areas including bereavement.As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are looking to improve the access and quality of perinatal mental health care for mothers and their partners. As of February 2023, there were 35 Maternal Mental Health Services, which provide psychological therapy for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to their maternity experience. Services in each integrated care system area are due to be operational by March 2024.

Earwax: Medical Treatments

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the (a) maximum and (b) minimum cost of an ear wax removal treatment by a private sector provider.

Andrea Leadsom: Details of the National Health Service provider costs are included in the National Cost Collection which can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/costing-in-the-nhs/national-cost-collection/There are also unit prices for the “Clearance of External Auditory Canal (19 years and over)” and the “Clearance of External Auditory Canal (18 years and under)” published in Annex A of the NHS Payment Scheme which can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2023-25-nhs-payment-scheme/Where NHS England or Integrated Care Boards commission these services from private sector providers, the unit prices must be used.However, the Department does not hold any information on the cost of these services delivered by private providers outside of the NHS, or what they may charge individuals for the service.

Pharmacy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 5-year deal at ensuring that community pharmacies are viable; and whether she plans to renew that Framework.

Andrea Leadsom: Community Pharmacy contractors are private businesses offering National Health Service and private services and products, and many factors will affect their viability.The five-year deal commits £2.592 billion per year to community pharmacy for providing NHS services and this was topped up by an additional £100 million across this and last financial year. Additional funding will be available for the Pharmacy First service and the expansion of the existing blood pressure check and contraception services.To support future discussions on funding, NHS England is commissioning an economic study of the costs of providing pharmaceutical services.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2023 to Question 346 on Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs, whether her Department plans to measure the long-term health outcomes of the cohort of people with cystic fibrosis who have been treated with Orkambi, Symkevi or Kaftrio through the NHS.

Andrew Stephenson: Long-term health outcomes of the cohort of people with cystic fibrosis who have been treated with Orkambi, Symkevi or Kaftrio through the National Health Service are collected by the UK Cystic Fibrosis Registry.Almost all people with cystic fibrosis in the United Kingdom consent to clinical teams submitting data on an annual basis about their medications including cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulator therapy and their clinical outcomes to the UK Cystic Fibrosis Registry, which publishes an annual report. Under the commercial arrangement with Vertex for CFTR modulator therapies real-world evidence is also collected.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Power Failures

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether there have been any power cuts on their Department's property in each of the last three years.

Julia Lopez: DCMS does not maintain a central register of power cuts.

Treasury

Cash Dispensing: Rotherham

Sarah Champion: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decline of free to use ATMs in Rotherham on residents.

Bim Afolami: The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups. The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. Importantly, in relation to personal current accounts the FCA is required to seek to ensure reasonable provision of free cash access services. The FCA is currently holding a consultation on its proposed regulatory approach ahead of this coming into effect by Q3 2024: FCA Access to Cash Consultation LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets (where there is a cluster of five or more retailers) that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre.

Timesharing

Alyn Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken with the Financial Conduct Authority to tackle mis-sold holiday timeshares.

Alyn Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) Financial Ombudsman and (b) Financial Conduct Authority on mis-sold time shares.

Bim Afolami: Timeshare arrangements are direct investments in property and are expressly carved out of regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Activities that are outside the remit of the FCA are also outside the compulsory jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). However, both lenders that provides credit to purchase a time share, and firms that make introductions to a lender, need to be authorised by the FCA and comply with relevant FCA rules. The FCA requires firms to have a complaints process in place for regulated activities, which customers should use in the first instance. If they are not satisfied with the firm’s response to their complaint, they may raise a complaint with the FOS. There are no plans for timeshare investment schemes to be brought within the scope of FCA regulation.

Individual Savings Accounts: Fines

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of penalties imposed for unauthorised withdrawals from lifetime ISAs.

Bim Afolami: The Government has no current plans to remove or reduce the LISA withdrawal charge.However, the Government keeps all aspects of the savings tax regime under review, and any changes would be announced at a fiscal event.

Financial Conduct Authority and Financial Ombudsman Service: Standards

Alyn Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the consistency of decision-making processes at the (a) Financial Conduct Authority and (b) Financial Ombudsmen Service.

Bim Afolami: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) are independent non-governmental bodies. Both the FCA and the FOS operate within the framework set by Parliament, and they are directly accountable to Parliament for how they discharge their statutory functions. This accountability includes a requirement for the FCA and the FOS to produce annual reports and accounts which are laid before Parliament by the Treasury. Both bodies are subject to full audit by the National Audit Office and to scrutiny through committee hearings, including the Public Accounts Committee and the Treasury Committee. Both organisations maintain arrangements for the independent investigation of complaints against them. The FOS regularly commissions independent reviews of its service. Most recently, a review carried out by Oaklin Consulting in 2021 found that the FOS is widely respected and viewed as reaching fair and impartial outcomes in the majority of cases. The FOS and the FCA are operationally independent from one another, but engage extensively on a range of issues through the Wider Implications Framework. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 introduced a statutory duty for the FCA, the FOS and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to co-operate on issues which have or are likely to have significant implications for each other, or for the wider financial services market.

Banks: Environment Protection

Kim Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to discourage banks regulated in the UK from supporting businesses which receive income from industrial livestock companies contributing to deforestation.

Bim Afolami: The Government is committed to working with UK financial institutions to further tackle deforestation-linked finance. On 9 December at COP28 Nature Day, the Government announced the next steps on the Forest Risk Commodities Scheme which will be introduced through provisions under the Environment Act 2021. This new due diligence legislation will see businesses that have a global annual turnover of over £50 million and use over 500 tonnes of regulated commodities a year banned from using them if sourced from land used illegally. As set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, HM Treasury will also conduct a review to assess if the financial regulatory framework is adequate for the purpose of eliminating the financing of illegal deforestation, and to consider what changes to the regulatory framework may be appropriate.

Financial Institutions

Geraint Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that financial institutions (a) provide insurance for property owners using carbon-free cement in new buildings and (b) support the use of innovative low and zero carbon products and services.

Bim Afolami: The Government is fully committed to delivering on our net zero legal obligations by 2050 and has set out a comprehensive range of measures to support investment into the transition in Powering Up Britain and the Green Finance Strategy. These will help leverage around £100 billion of private investment as we develop new industries and innovative low carbon technologies and support up to 480,000 jobs by 2030. The package of measures recently set out at Autumn Statement 2023 will further build the enabling environment for investment, which will be vital to delivering net zero. This included making Full Expensing permanent, speeding up grid connections, and reforming the planning system. It also included £4.5bn in advanced manufacturing support, with £960m for a new Green Industries Growth Accelerator focused on clean energy sectors. Insurers make commercial decisions about the types of products they will cover, as well as the terms and conditions they set, when offering insurance. While the Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers, it recognises the important role insurance plays in supporting the transition to more sustainable products and will continue to monitor the availability and affordability of relevant insurance products.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Pet Travel Scheme: Dogs

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs travelled to the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme via (a) sea, (b) tunnel and (c) air in each year between 2013 and 2022.

Mark Spencer: The total number of dogs that travelled under the pet travel scheme is as follows: YearAirSeaTunnelTotal201817,783118,043177,170312,996201919,302114,706174,396308,404202016,35338,813131,463186,629202117,38939,578108,904165,871202217,88595,493169,531282,909 This is a summary of dogs entering Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme via an approved route. It does not include pet animals that enter other parts of the UK (such as Northern Ireland or the Channel Islands) or pet animals that enter Great Britain from other parts of the UK. It does not include any animals that enter Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme from the Republic of Ireland (as these movements do not need to follow an approved route). The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. Please note that we do not hold any data prior to 2018.

Pet Travel Scheme: Cats

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats travelled to the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme via (a) sea, (b) tunnel and (c) air in each year between 2013 and 2022.

Mark Spencer: The total number of cats that travelled under the pet travel scheme is as follows: YearAirSeaTunnelTotal20188,5308,44912,59129,57020199,7769,76412,76732,30720209,3545,23512,54527,134202111,4455,92811,76829,14120229,81915,50014,23839,557 This is a summary of cats entering Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme via an approved route. It does not include pet animals that enter other parts of the UK (such as Northern Ireland or the Channel Islands) or pet animals that enter Great Britain from other parts of the UK. It does not include any animals that enter Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme from the Republic of Ireland (as these movements do not need to follow an approved route). The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. We do not hold any data prior to 2018.

Agriculture: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many recipients of the Basic Payments Scheme there are in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

Mark Spencer: During the application window, which closed on 9 June, the Rural Payments Agency received 305 Eligible Basic Payments Scheme applications for the Suffolk Coastal Constituency. As of 14th December the total number of BPS claims Paid for Suffolk Coastal constituency is 298 in total which is 97.07% paid.

Livestock Worrying: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in the Welsh Government on taking steps to help tackle livestock worrying.

Mark Spencer: Defra has regular discussions with the Devolved Administrations about a range of animal welfare topics, including livestock worrying.

Livestock Worrying

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 18 September 2023 to Question 198983, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on livestock worrying.

Mark Spencer: The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications. We will be taking forward measures to modernise current livestock worrying legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, we will continue to work on messaging and awareness about controlling all breeds of dog around livestock.

Food Supply: Climate Change

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help increase food security in the context of trends in the level of flooding brought about by climate change.

Mark Spencer: The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years, and the Government is committed to maintaining the amount of food produced domestically to support our farmers and uphold our high food security. Recent wet weather has created challenging conditions for farmers; however, the food industry is adept at managing disruption and securing alternative sources of supply when necessary. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. The government is in regular contact with the food industry to ensure it is well prepared for a range of scenarios, and we continue to take all the necessary steps to ensure people across the country have the food and supplies they need.

Fertilisers: Insects

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential environmental impact of (a) greenhouse gas, (b) nitrous oxide and (c) other emissions from farmed insect frass used as fertiliser.

Mark Spencer: In 2021 Defra commissioned a scientific review on the insect bioconversion industry, focusing on insect protein used in animal feed. This review highlighted the potential environmental benefits of including insect protein in poultry and pig feeds, and the potential to support a circular economy. This review also identified that more evidence was needed on life cycle assessments within the UK on insect protein production, and a lack of an evaluation of insect feed substrates and potential uses of by-products (e.g., frass and chitin). To address this gap, Defra has commissioned a new project to undertake a life cycle assessment within the UK on insect protein production.

Environment Agency: Licensing

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the planned deadline of January 2024 for Environment Agency Regulatory Position Statement 197.

Robbie Moore: Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) 197 has been in force since 2005 but it does not currently contain an expiry date. The Environment Agency (EA) will be consulting the waste industry on a replacement for RPS 197. That will allow a temporary extension to the disposal of metal shredding residues and residues from the processing of metal shredding residues which are classed as hazardous waste, at landfill for non-hazardous waste. As part of the consultation the EA will ask for feedback on appropriate deadlines.

Highly Protected Marine Areas

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase the number of Highly Protected Marine Areas.

Rebecca Pow: The first three Highly Protected Marine Areas in English waters were designated in summer 2023 and we are currently working to put in place management measures. Defra continues to explore additional sites for potential consideration. Any future sites would be subject to Ministerial agreement and public consultation.

Hedgehogs: Conservation

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the growth of the hedgehog population.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is committed to taking further action to recover threatened native species. In England, we have set four legally binding targets; to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042; and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan. The Environment Act 2021 introduced several policies, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities, which will work together to will support the creation and restoration of habitat which will benefit native species. In addition, our environmental land management schemes will provide farmers, foresters, and other land managers with financial support for a wide range of measure which will deliver positive benefits for native species, including hedgehog. For example, as hedgerows are an important habitat for hedgehogs, funding the creation, restoration, and maintenance of hedgerows through the Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes, will support the recovery of the species.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Climate Change Convention

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many officials from his Department attended COP 28.

Rebecca Pow: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Barclay, and Minister of State, Lord Benyon, attended COP28. A final list of confirmed UK participants, including officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will be published by the UNFCCC in due course.

Flood Control: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's policy statement entitled Flood and coastal erosion risk management, published in July 2020, how much and what proportion of the £5.2 billion of funding for flood mitigation has been allocated to nature-based flood-prevention solutions.

Robbie Moore: The Environment Agency has estimated that between March 2015 and April 2021 it spent £20 million on natural flood management elements of wider flood defence schemes. This was in addition to the £15m natural flood management programme. There will be even more natural flood management in the £5.2bn flood defence programme from 2021-27, including £25 million funding to improve flood resilience through natural flood management, launched by the Environment Agency and Defra in September 2023.

Drinking Water: Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating guidelines on the level of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water.

Robbie Moore: The Drinking Water Inspectorate’s (DWI) guideline value on individual types of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) of 100 nanograms per litre was agreed with the UK Health Security Agency to be a robust level with an appropriate margin to ensure our drinking water is safe to drink. There is no evidence of PFAS concentrations above this value in drinking water supplies. The DWI has provided further direction to water companies to develop appropriate and focused strategies to protect drinking water supplies and work is continuing across Government to help us assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches.

Sustainable Farming Incentive: Mid Bedfordshire

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 from Mid Bedforshire constituency have been (a) made and (b) approved.

Robbie Moore: The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 13 December the RPA had received 14 applications of which 8 agreements have been offered and 6 accepted for the Mid Bedfordshire Constituency.

Electronic Cigarettes: Recycling

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to encourage the use of refillable rather than disposable vapes.

Robbie Moore: On 12 October 2023 the Government launched a consultation on smoking and youth vaping, which has now closed. As part of this consultation, we are considering restrictions on the sale and supply of disposable vape products (including non-nicotine vapes) due to the environmental impacts of disposable vapes. We are currently analysing responses to this consultation and are working with the Department of Health and Social Care to publish a Government response in due course.

Department for Business and Trade

Oil: Russia

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to monitor the potential supply of Russian crude oil via third parties into the UK.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The UK, alongside our international allies, has imposed sanctions on Russia to limit its ability to wage war. Sanctions have curtailed total Russian goods imports to the UK by 94%.The Government continues to monitor the effectiveness of all sanctions, including on crude oil, leading the international effort to counter circumvention alongside our partners. The Government is committed to ensuring that third countries are not used by Russia to evade sanctions.It is a criminal offence to contravene, or to enable or facilitate contravention of, UK sanctions on Russia including those on Russian oil and oil products. Oil and oil products may be subject to forfeiture if the importer cannot prove they do not originate from Russia.

Arms Trade: Israel

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her oral answer of 30 November 2023 on Arms Export Licences: Israel, Official Report column 1050, if her Department will publish the (a) classification and description of the goods, (b) stated end use and (c) licence type including (i) direct transfers and (ii) transfers via third countries of the 114 standard individual export licences granted for sale of military goods to Israel last year.

Greg Hands: HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics on GOV.UK, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data also specifies whether the goods covered by a particular licence are for ultimate use by the destination country or whether the goods are due to be incorporated into another product for use by a third-party destination (ie incorporation licences).This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The most recent publication was on 30th August 2023, and covered the period 1st January – 31st March 2023. Information covering 1st April – 30th June 2023 will be published on 16th January 2024.

Arms Trade: Israel

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will publish an assessment of whether UK-produced military goods components have been used in military activity in the (a) Israel-Hamas conflict and (b) West Bank since 7 October 2023.

Greg Hands: The government continues to monitor closely the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We will not issue an export licence to any destination where to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria.Licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard and we are able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences, or refuse new licence applications, as circumstances require.In the event such decisions were taken, for any licences, we would issue a Notification to Exporters.

Horticulture: Environment Protection

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to ensure that representatives of the environmental horticulture industry are included in her Department's Domestic Advisory Group.

Greg Hands: The UK has established two Domestic Advisory Groups to meet the requirements of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and several trade and sustainability chapters within our FTAs. The organisational membership of the UK TCA Domestic Advisory Group, and the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Domestic Advisory Group, includes representative bodies from both the agricultural and environmental sectors in the UK. The membership of the UK TCA and TSD Domestic Advisory Groups will be reviewed in 2024 and 2025 respectively. DBT and the FCDO will consider new applications during this process and encourage interested organisations to apply.

Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many applications to the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme her Department has received.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many applications to the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme her Department has approved.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: As of 15 December 2023, 31 enquiries about the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme have been received since its launch in July 2023. No transactions have yet proceeded to approval stage although discussions with lenders, yards and buyers remain ongoing.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average vehicle availability rate was for (a) Chinook, (b) Wildcat Mk1, (c) Wildcat Mk2 and (d) Merlin HM2 in each year since 2018.

James Cartlidge: The Royal Navy, and Joint Helicopter Command, hold and maintain an appropriate amount of all their platforms to meet operational requirements. I am withholding further information on the number of platforms available for operational deployment for security reasons.

Air Force: Crew

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many qualified pilots were employed by the RAF in each year since 2019.

James Heappey: I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

UK Defence and Security Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to question 1813, how many times the Defence and Security Exports Inter-Ministerial Group met in the last 12 months and on what dates

James Cartlidge: On his appointment, the Secretary of State was given a clear steer by the Prime Minister to increase Defence Exports. As the Minister responsible for implementing that instruction, I took the decision to form the Defence and Security Exports Inter-Ministerial Group in order to bring greater cross-Government working to this policy area, and it met for the first time on 12 December.

Ministry of Defence: Allowances

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many expense claims his Department rejected in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: This information is not held in the specific detail requested.

Defence: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to  Question 1813 on Defence: Exports, how does his Department monitor progress on increasing defence exports.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence reports on defence exports as part of its Annual Report and Accounts. Our most recent report is available here: Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Ministry of Defence: Staff

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which major projects in his Departments do not have a full time senior responsible officer.

James Cartlidge: Infrastructure and Projects Authority guidance requires all of our major programmes to have a Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) who allocates at least 50% of their time to leading their programme. The allocation of time is based on the scope, scale, complexity and maturity of the programme and is agreed by the Chief Executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, the Accounting Officer(s) and the Senior Responsible Owner. As a result, major programmes that have been agreed as needing only a part time SRO are: A400MMaritime Electronic WarfareArmour Main Battle TankMartletBallistic Missile Defence RadarMechanised Infantry VehicleBrimstone 3MensaChinook Capability SustainmentMeteorCollective Training TransformationMine Hunting CapabilityCore ProductionNaval Support Integrated Global NetworkCrowsnestNew Medium HelicopterDefence Estates OptimisationNew Style of IT (Deployed)E-7 WedgetailProject BramleyEuropean Common Radar SystemProtectorFleet Solid SupportSea VenomFuture Combat AirSkynet 6Future Cruise Anti ShipSpear Cap 3Future Defence InfrastructureSpearfish UpgradeFuture Materials CampusSubmarine Waterfront InfrastructureGround Based Air DefenceSubmersible Ship Nuclear (AUKUS)Joint Crypt KeyTeutatesLand Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and ReconnaissanceType 26LightningType 31

Armed Forces: Communication

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve coherence across frontline commands.

James Cartlidge: When creating the role of Chief of Defence Logistics and Support (CDLS) and the Defence Support organisation one of the primary roles was to deliver coordination and coherence across the Defence Support enterprise. This coordination is delivered through the 4* chaired Defence Support Board. Senior leaders (2* level) from all organisations (frontline commands and enabling organisations) are working collaboratively through a series of subordinate boards to ensure Support matters are cohered and coordinated. Each Frontline Command and Enabling Organisation has a nominated 2* Support Champion. To further enhance this coordination, CDLS now attends the DE&S Executive Synchronisation meeting, and will be appointed to the DE&S Executive Committee in the near future.

Armed Forces: Housing

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military housing units reported cases of (a) mould, (b) heating and (c) external wall insulation problems in each year since 2019.

James Cartlidge: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Ministry of Defence: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 3662 on Ministry of Defence: ICT, if he will publish details of the 11 red-rated legacy IT systems.

James Cartlidge: The information held about Red Rated Systems is sensitive as it highlights potential security weaknesses within the Ministry of Defence’s IT estate. For this reason I am withholding this information.

Military Exercises: Guided Weapons

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets have been fired during training exercises in each year since 2015.

James Heappey: The number of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles fired during training exercises each year since 2015 is: YearGMLRS FiredNotes20157 20167 20177 20187 201912 2020302 x Exercises2021362 x Exercises2022562 x Exercises2023192 x Exercises

Military Exercises: Ammunition

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many 5.56x45mm rounds have been fired during training exercises in each year since 2015.

James Heappey: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Military Exercises: Antitank Missiles

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Javelin missiles have been fired during training exercises in each year since 2015.

James Heappey: The Javelin missiles fired during training exercises each year since 2015 is: YearJavelin fired2015422016552017442018412019292020582021158202262202337 Notes: The operational firings have not been included.These figures are for each calendar year and accurate as of 15 December 2023.

Israel: Military Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5417 on Israel: Military Aid, whether it is his Department's policy not to provide military equipment to Israel since 7 October 2023.

James Heappey: The UK has a longstanding defence relationship with Israel. Any gifting of military equipment by the UK Government is considered on a case-by-case basis and is assessed against the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.

Iran: Terrorism

Nicola Richards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support Israel to tackle Iranian-backed terror groups in the Middle East.

James Heappey: The UK Government has long condemned Iran's destabilising activity throughout the Middle East, including its military, financial, and political support to several militant and proscribed groups. These groups represent a danger to global security such as through attacks on international shipping. The UK works closely with several nations in the Middle East, including Israel, to defend our strategic interests in the region from these malign actors. We have also deployed additional military assets to the Eastern Mediterranean and East of Suez to deter attacks on international shipping, reinforce regional stability and prevent escalation.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 December 2023, HCWS118, on ICO Investigation Update, whether any other data breaches related to the (a) ARAP scheme and (b) his Department were being investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office on 13 December 2023.

James Heappey: As of 13 December 2023, there were two live ICO investigations into incidents within the Ministry of Defence. We do not provide further detail on live investigations.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy applications have been (a) submitted and (b) received an initial eligibility decision each month since January 2023.

James Heappey: Since January 2023, 7,260 Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme principal applications have been submitted. Of these: a) 619 were received in January 2023b) 1,236 in Februaryc) 763 in Marchd) 579 in Aprile) 477 in Mayf) 346 in Juneg) 490 in Julyh) 690 in Augusti) 326 in Septemberj) 864 in Octoberk) 612 in Novemberl) 258 in December  Since January 2023, 78,526 ARAP applications received an eligibility decision. Of these: a) 2,828 received an eligibility decision in January 2023b) 3,265 in Februaryc) 3,936 in Marchd) 2,214 in Aprile) 4,624 in Mayf) 12,840 in Juneg) 25,053 in Julyh) 20,475 in Augusti) 1,431 in Septemberj) 244 in Octoberk) 1,416 in Novemberl) 200 in December These figures are accurate as of 12 December 2023. Although it is not possible to provide an average timeframe for the making of an eligibility decision, timeframes within our published policy allow 42 days for an applicant to provide further information to inform decision making.

USA: Military Bases

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2023 to Question 1249 on USA: Military Bases, how many US military personnel are stationed at (a) RAF Alconbury, (b) RAF Molesworth, (c) RAF Croughton, (d) RAF Fairford, (e) RAF Lakenheath, (f) RAF Menwith Hill and (g) RAF Mildenhall.

James Heappey: The information required to answer the hon. Member's question is not held centrally and will take some time to collate. I will write to him when the information is available and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Oral Statement from the Minister for Veteran Affairs of 13 December 2023 on Afghan Resettlement Update, Official Report, column 911, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) principals and (b) dependents under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy that will be housed in service accommodation in (i) December 2023, (ii) January 2024 and (iii) February 2024.

James Heappey: Based on current planning, we anticipate that over 1,000 ARAP eligible Afghans who have arrived in the UK since the resumption of flow in October 2023 will be housed in settled Service Family Accommodation properties by the end of February 2024.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Oral Statement from the Minister for Veteran Affairs of 13 December 2023 on Afghan Resettlement Update, Official Report, whether he plans for Afghans under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy to be housed in temporary hotel accommodation beyond 31 December 2023.

James Heappey: There are currently no Afghans in the UK eligible for the Afghan Resettlement and Assistance Policy scheme currently in hotel accommodation, and we have no plans to use hotels in the future.

Firearms

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) L123 UGL, (b) L119A1 and 2, (c) L129A1 and 2, (d) L403A1, (e) L115A3 and 4 and (f) L92A1, L921A1, L80A1 and L90A1 have been (i) in the inventory of and (ii) decommissioned by the armed forces in each year since 2015.

James Cartlidge: A number of weapons systems will be decommissioned each year due to damage and wear outside of safe limits. I am not in a position to release the exact figures for the inventory or the disposal of these weapons systems due to operational sensitivities.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Military Aircraft

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average availability rate was for (a) wheeled support vehicles, (b) Landrovers, (c) Typhoons and (d) Lightnings in each year since 2018.

James Cartlidge: Average annual Forward Fleet figures for the Typhoon and F-35B Lightning fleets are given in the table below.  2018201920202021202220231Typhoon96100100101100100Lightning (2)7(3)1114172124January to November onlyExcludes three aircraft in the Test and Evaluation role in the US.From June to December only The Forward Fleet comprises serviceable and short-term unserviceable aircraft. Typically, the short-term unserviceable fleet aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection that can arise on a day-to-day basis. The number of aircraft varies day-to-day, according to normal flight management activities. The British Army holds and maintains an appropriate amount of all its platforms to meet operational requirements. For security reasons, I am withholding further information on the number of wheeled support vehicles and Land Rovers available for operational deployment.

Navy: Military Exercises

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) abandoned and (b) postponed Royal Navy training exercises in each year since 2018.

James Cartlidge: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Housing

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2505 on Armed Forces: Housing, when does he plan to publish the results of the assessment of the UK single living accommodation estate against the Defence Minimum Standard.

James Cartlidge: The Department continues to analyse the results of the recently completed Defence Minimum Standard assessment of the UK Single Living Accommodation estate and intends to publish the results in 2024.

Defence: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1813 on Defence: Exports, what criteria are used to assess export potential.

James Cartlidge: HMG assesses defence export opportunities against a range of criteria: contribution to political objectives and international relationships; maintenance of sovereign industrial capability; the benefits accrued to HMG through economies of scale; and, contribution to UK prosperity objectives. In addition, the views of the industry commercial lead for the export campaign are taken into consideration. All assessments are conducted in the context of our robust and transparent export control regime for military, dual-use, and other sensitive goods and technologies.

Ministry of Defence: Contracts

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2508 on Ministry of Defence: Contracts, what was the percentage weighting for the two procurement projects that used a weighting higher than 10%.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2508 on Ministry of Defence: Contracts, for what reason two procurement projects had a social value weighting higher than 10%.

James Cartlidge: In the instances identified the teams used the following weightings 10.2% & 12%. We do not routinely record individual procurements rationale for using weightings above the 10% minimum. Teams will determine weightings as part of their evaluation strategy, informed by the drivers and priorities of the individual procurement.

Defence: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1813 on Defence: Exports, who sits on the Defence and Security Exports Inter-Ministerial Group.

James Cartlidge: The membership of the Defence and Security Exports Inter-Ministerial Group is: Secretary of State for Defence (co-Chair)Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and President of the Board of Trade, and Minister for Women and Equalities (co-Chair)Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development AffairsChief Secretary to the TreasuryMinister for Defence ProcurementMinister for SecurityMinister for InvestmentParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet OfficeNational Security AdviserChief of the Defence StaffMilitary Assistant to the Prime Minister

Defence: Employment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1812 on Defence: Employment, what plans does his Department have to help ensure a sustainable skills base for the defence sector.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the People and Skills Steering Group of the Defence Suppliers Forum.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the membership of the People and Skills Steering Group of the Defence Suppliers Forum.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times the People and Skills Steering Group of the Defence Suppliers Forum met in the last 12 months and on what dates.

James Cartlidge: The Defence Suppliers Forum (DSF) People and Skills Steering Group routinely meets on a quarterly basis. In the past twelve months the group met on the following dates: 13 November 2023, 5 September 2023, 11 July 2023 and 8 March 2023. There are 18 members of the DSF Steering Group with representation across the sub groups from relevant policy and delivery areas of the MOD, as well as from strategic and mid-tier suppliers, trade associations and academia. The Steering Group, as with all DSF Steering Groups, is held to account by the DSF Executive Group for the delivery of its agreed programme of work. To help ensure a sustainable skills base for the defence sector, the People and Skills Steering Group is focussing on defining a Defence Enterprise Diversity and Inclusion Charter (planned for publication early 2024) and will define a mechanism for ‘Recycle Recruitment’ by the end of 2024. Discussions have also taken place on apprenticeships and encouraging the use of UCAS as a platform for candidates to apply for vacancies seamlessly and simultaneously with several organisations.The group continues to focus on attracting and developing qualified engineers and has recently conducted a pilot study to identify if academic bodies would work with the Defence Enterprise.

Armed Forces: LGBT+ People

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, to outline what steps his Department is taking to make the Armed Forces inclusive for members of the LGBT+ community.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence is proud of all our LGBT+ military and civilian personnel, and the significant contribution they make to ensure national security, support our national interests, and safeguard our prosperity. It is essential to Defence operational effectiveness that we build a more inclusive and diverse organisation to achieve a stronger, healthier, and more resilient workforce and maximise the talent of all our people. We are committed to continue working with our LGBT+ networks to improve the lived experience of Service personnel and civilian staff. They provide excellent support to the LGBT+ community through conferences, communications, and engagement, and provide direct support to individuals as required. Our Armed Forces and civilian personnel regularly take part in London Pride, in addition to other Pride events across the country. Attendance at Pride events by Defence LGBT+ personnel is a powerful demonstration of how inclusive an employer Defence is and the extent to which we represent UK society. Uniformed personnel make a very public statement that you can be LGBT+ and serve your country. This challenges stereotypes and misconceptions held by serving personnel; potential recruits and gatekeepers; veterans; and the public more widely. Defence is committed to taking forward restorative action for LGBT individuals who were impacted by historic policies. It is a priority for us to implement the vast majority of recommendations from the Lord Etherton report and guarantee that our LGBT+ personnel remain properly supported. Finally, work is ongoing to update internal Defence policies and processes. We have streamlined the process for registering Armed Forces Chapels for same-sex couple marriage. This change will make it quicker and easier to do and, given that only two Chapels in England and Wales are currently registered for same-sex couples marriage, this change will have a highly positive impact on our LGBT+ community. Looking to the future, we are exploring options to develop a mechanism to ensure this process is as fast as it can be, to affirm equal opportunity for all Defence people. We are also working to update the online HR system for the Armed Forces with more declaration categories for faith and belief, gender, and sexual orientation. This will help to improve declaration rates which will allow us to target support in the right places.

Ministry of Defence: Women

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December to Question 3729 on Ministry of Defence: Women, what the criteria are for selecting interview panel members.

Dr Andrew Murrison: All selection panel members must have completed and passed their mandatory learning, this includes Inclusion within the Civil Service or Civil Service Expectations. In addition to this, panel members must have at least one diverse (as defined in the Equality Act 2010) member on the panel. The panel composition is made up from the hiring manager (one grade above the grade being advertised), a representative of the customer facing organisation and a senior HR Business Partner as a minimum.

Ministry of Defence: Recruitment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to increase diversity in his Department’s leadership positions.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It can take a number of years for recruits into the Civil Service and Armed Forces to reach senior leadership positions, which is why we are working hard to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups including those from ethnic minority backgrounds, women, and LGBT+ individuals. We guarantee Senior Civil Service recruitment panels are represented by a mix of genders, and also include ethnic minority or disabled members. Ministry of Defence civilian job adverts are reviewed for use of plain and inclusive language, and we have invested in contracts with organisations such as Vercida to ensure we encourage a diverse applicant pool. Also, the Armed Forces recruitment processes highlight the Services’ commitment to diversity, with the aim of attracting a diverse range of new recruits including potential future senior leaders. Civilian and military development schemes are available to colleagues from all backgrounds, and we utilise opportunities such as the Future and Senior Leaders Schemes to grow our internal talent pipelines.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Discrimination

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help tackle (a) bullying, (b) discrimination and (c) harassment within his Department.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 18 December 2023, to Question 6427.Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Discrimination (docx, 16.0KB)

Ministry of Defence: Women

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December to Question 3729 on Ministry of Defence: Women, what targeted development opportunities his Department provides for female staff below SCS.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) has developed and is running a programme titled ‘Becoming’, which is specifically aimed at women in DE&S below the Senior Civil Servant grade. To date 88 women have completed this programme, with a further 60 women currently participating in the programme. The intention is to run this programme through to 2026, which will result in over 500 women attending in total. In addition to this programme, DE&S also sponsors female colleagues on the Women in Defence mentoring programme, with funded placements for ten mentors and ten mentees.

Ministry of Defence: Women

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December to Question 3729 on Ministry of Defence: Women, what steps he is taking to increase opportunities for flexible working in his Department.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Flexible working opportunities along with hybrid working arrangements are clearly stated in job adverts for not only Senior Civil Service positions at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), but those in delegated grades as well. DE&S offers job sharing, and part-time roles where requirements of the business allow for these types of working arrangements. Additionally, upon employment all DE&S civil servants have the opportunity to apply for flexible working through their immediate Line Manager.

Ministry of Defence: Women

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December to Question 3729 on Ministry of Defence: Women, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) expected outcomes are of the work of the executive search agency.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The terms of reference for the Executive Search company are to attract talented and diverse individuals into Senior Civil Service positions in Defence Equipment & Support. During the current financial year there has been an additional target placed upon them in that 30% of shortlisted candidates selected for interview must have a diverse background as defined in the Equality Act 2010. This has been achieved for all but two of the 11 campaigns completed in financial year 2022-23.

Ministry of Defence Police: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual budget for the Ministry of Defence Police was in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The annual budget for the Ministry of Defence Police on 31 March each financial year, since 2019-2020 is: Financial Year2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24Budget (£million)152.5156.5167.2161.3167.2**this includes funding transfers of £6.5 million received in year

Armed Forces: Career Development

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2023 to Question 4062 on Armed Forces, how the Pan Defence Skills Framework will improve transparency in appraisal and promotion processes.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Pan Defence Skills Framework (PDSF), as a modernized approach to skills management, has the potential to enhance transparency in appraisal and promotion processes; the exploitation of the PDSF for the military is closely linked with the Future Appraisal review work which is taking place. Some areas being explored are: Standardization of Skill Definitions: PDSF establishes unified standards for skill definitions across different branches of defence. This standardization ensures that personnel, regardless of their specific roles or service branches, are assessed based on the same criteria. It reduces ambiguity and subjectivity in skill evaluation, leading to a more transparent and fair appraisal process.Data-Driven Decision Making: by leveraging data analytics, PDSF could enable data-driven decision-making in appraisals and promotions. This approach uses objective data and analytics to assess performance and potential, reducing biases and inconsistencies in the decision-making process.Clear Career Pathways: PDSF provides clear and structured career development frameworks, outlining the skills and competencies required for each role and level within the Defence sector. This greater transparency in career pathways will ensure that individuals understand the criteria for promotion and what they need to achieve for career progression.Enhanced Communication: the PDSF fosters clear communication about skills and roles. By using a common language to define skills and roles, it ensures that all personnel, including appraisers and those being appraised, have a mutual understanding of the criteria and processes involved in appraisals and promotions.Feedback Mechanisms: using skills in feedback loops. Regular feedback on performance, aligned with the skills framework, provides individuals with actionable insights into their development areas, contributing to a more transparent and growth-oriented appraisal process.Comparability: The PDSF allows for comparability of skills and roles across different areas within Defence. This comparability ensures that promotions are fair and equitable, even when individuals transition between areas or roles.Talent Pipelines: The PDSF has the potential to give the Front Line Commands and Centre insight into the health of talent pipelines, especially in niche or specialist career fields.Goal setting: the PDSF has the potential to support personnel to develop annual goals and objectives, leading to the targeted acquisition of skills related to their chosen career path.

Ministry of Defence Police: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what annual budget he has allocated to the Ministry of Defence Police in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The annual budget allocated for the Ministry of Defence Police for the next three years is:Year2023-242024-252025-26Budget (£million)167.2*170.5165.7*this includes funding transfers from other Top Level Budgets of £6.5million received in year

Ministry of Defence: Off-payroll Working

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on off-payroll engagements in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Department collects information centrally on the numbers of off-payroll engagements in line with the mandatory disclosure requirements for reporting in the Annual Report and Accounts.The Department does not collect all the information that would be required to address this question centrally and it is considered the time and resource required to do so retrospectively would be disproportionate.The Department will consider the scope to expand the data collected on off-payroll engagements from 2023-24 to enable analysis of this type to be provided in the future.

Veterans: LGBT+ People

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how and when LGBT veterans can apply for a financial award.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government acknowledges the importance of timeliness whilst being acutely aware of the considerations that must be made to ensure a fair outcome. Experts across Government are working at pace to deliver a financial award scheme, acknowledging that the process is intricate and must be followed correctly, and aim to deliver this before the end of 2024. The Government encourages those affected to register their interest in applying for a financial award by completing the Application and Registration of Interest form on the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lgbt-veterans-support-and-next-steps. Such registrations of interest will enable the Government to learn more about the affected community and thereby design the most suitable scheme possible.

Ministry of Defence: Women

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what outreach strategies his Department uses to help increase the number of women employees.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence is committed to attracting, recruiting, and developing the best talent from a wide range of skills and backgrounds, to reflect the society we serve. Women are an integral part of our Armed Forces and Civil Service workforce and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is developing proactive outreach strategies to understand the talent that we have now, and we need in the future. There are a range of activities ongoing across the Department to promote the MOD as an employer of choice, including attending career events, developing engaging online Employee Value Proposition and branding materials, and promoting opportunities on online platforms (such as LinkedIn and Civil Service Careers). Defence is working with colleagues from the Armed Forces and Civil Service teams to ensure that we are maximising effectiveness with our current and future outreach strategies.

Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3734 on Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes, what steps he is taking to evaluate the effectiveness of the (a) Rise and (b) Elevate schemes.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Both the Rise and Elevate schemes are in their pilot years and monitoring is primarily through qualitative assessment. Interviews, feedback sessions and surveys are conducted with participants, their managers and alumni and are combined with existing promotion information. This data is used by team members experienced in running development programmes to monitor progress, ensure consistent quality and make scheme improvements. The effectiveness of the programmes will be evaluated using the time taken to gain promotion relative to peers not on the schemes. So far multiple Rise alumni have been promoted and of those some have been promoted two grades. Since starting the pilot Elevate scheme (ongoing until June 2024) six participants have been promoted to Grade 7. We consider this data provides a strong and positive early sign that the scheme is achieving its goals. The Ministry of Defence is able to comprehensively track the careers of scheme alumni. Over the next few years this will enable the accurate measurement of the effectiveness of both the Rise and Elevate schemes.

Ministry of Defence: Standards

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3722 Ministry of Defence: Standards, into what further policy areas he plans a deep dive in the new year.

Dr Andrew Murrison: A deep dive into the Conflicts of Interest policy will commence in the New Year. Subsequent deep dives will be commissioned by the Department’s Fraud, Ethics and Propriety Board.

Ministry of Defence: Standards

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3722 on Ministry of Defence: Standards, if he will publish the conclusions of the deep dive into Gifts, Rewards and Hospitality and Business Appointments policies.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3722 on Ministry of Defence: Standards, if he will publish the recommendations of the deep dive into Gifts, Rewards and Hospitality and Business Appointments policies; and when does he expect those recommendations to be fully implemented.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The deep dives into standards policies have been commissioned by the Department’s Fraud, Ethics and Propriety Board. We would not normally publish the detail of internal reviews, but in broad terms the issues identified were around simplification of policies, consistent application across the Department, and aligning business appointments policies with the reforms set out in the Strengthening Ethics and Integrity in Central Government report of July 2023.

Fraud: Telephone Services

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual budget for the Confidential Fraud Hotline was in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The budget for each financial year (FY) on the Confidential Hotline since 2019 is set out below: FY Budget2019-20£225,5252020-21£227,3152021-22£230,4962022-23£279,126*2023-24£339,261*includes spend on contingent labour

Ministry of Defence: Training

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2023 to Question 3432 on Ministry of Defence: Fraud, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department have completed the Defence version of the Fraud, Bribery, and Corruption training package as of 13 December 2023.

Dr Andrew Murrison: 83,085 (37%) Defence staff are recorded as having completed the Defence version of the Fraud, Bribery and Corruption training package hosted on the Defence Learning Environment since 13 December 2022 up to 13 December 2023. This does not include over 22,000 members of staff who have undertaken the Fraud, Bribery and Corruption course hosted on Civil Service Learning over the same period. Therefore some 47% of Defence staff have undertaken counter fraud awareness training in the past 12 months. Defence staff numbers are taken as 225,920, as set out in UK Defence in Numbers 2022 (page 17).

Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3734 on Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes, what steps he is taking to ensure that the (a) Rise and (b) Elevate schemes attract a diverse range of talent.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Rise and Elevate Schemes have been advertised together widely across the department to heighten awareness and attract as much of the Ministry of Defence’s diverse range of talent as possible. Multiple channels were used, including; department-wide MODNet intranet articles; engagement workshops; local communications from Top Level Budget business area talent leads; engagement with staff networks, including the growing Women’s and Race Networks; and information sessions as part of National Inclusion and Learning at Work weeks. Selection utilised fair, open and merit-based recruitment principles. Best practice for attracting diverse talent included anonymised applications and providing requested reasonable adjustments. To attract colleagues from some minority groups and support them once they have joined, the Rise and Elevate schemes offer additional coaching before, during and after participation. The Rise and Elevate schemes are part of a much broader talent offer (including other schemes such as Step Up and Step Across and a pilot programme Aspire) that supports the development of diverse talent and provides under-represented groups with the tools to progress into more senior grades. We also actively take part in the wider government talent schemes detailed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-talent-management/civil-service-talent-management

Ministry of Defence: Fraud

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 3427 on Ministry of Defence: Fraud, when he plans to send the letter to the Rt hon. Member for Garston and Halewood.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I will respond to the right hon. Member shortly.

Ministry of Defence: Senior Civil Servants

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 3737 on Ministry of Defence: Senior Civil Servants, when he plans to send the letter to the Rt hon. Member for Garston and Halewood.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I responded to the right hon. Member on 20 December 2023.Follow up letter to Question 3737 (pdf, 172.0KB)Follow up letter to Question 3737 - Annex (pdf, 86.9KB)

Marines: Mental Health Services

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the self-assessment framework in the Royal Marines Project Regain programme in helping to (a) combat mental health issues and (b) prevent suicide by armed forces personnel since its introduction.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Regain is part of the Royal Navy drive to reduce stigma, improve mental health and mental fitness awareness within the Royal Marines. It encourages Royal Marine personnel to seek help at the earliest opportunity, not just from the medical teams but from peers, superiors, Chain of Command, family and friends.Regain continues to demonstrate its value in supporting Royal Marine personnel who may be contemplating suicide or suffering from mental health issues.

Marines: Military Exercises

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many training exercises of four days or more were carried out by (a) 42 Commando, (b) 40 Commando and (c) 45 Commando Royal Marines in each year since 2015.

James Heappey: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Allowances

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the total value of fraudulent expense claims in his Department in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: All detected fraud, bribery and corruption cases are recorded on a central database. The total value of travel and subsistence claims which has been subject to investigation and substantiated as fraudulent in each financial year since 2019-20 is set out below: YearTotal ValueFY 2019-20£52,925FY 2020-21£19,784FY 2021-22£12,575FY 2022-23£23,836FY 2023-24£17,641

Defence: Higher Education

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1812 on Defence: Employment, whether his Department has established partnerships with (a) universities and (b) other educational institutions to ensure access to skilled graduates.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence has established strong partnerships with a range of universities and other educational establishments to ensure access to skilled graduates. For example, the Armed Forces have embedded training and engagement organisations within universities which support graduates in aligning their post-study employment with a career in the Armed Forces. Organisations such as the University Royal Naval Units, University Officers’ Training Corps, University Air Squadrons all provide access to highly motivated and skilled graduates. In addition, Defence offers bursaries through the Defence Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Undergraduate Sponsorship (DSUS) Scheme and conducts a wide range of outreach activities. These seek to highlight opportunities in Defence, and how graduates can enjoy fulfilling careers as a result of their qualifications and skills. A number of educational establishments deliver qualifications aligned to employment in the Armed Forces as well as signposting Armed Forces employment through their Careers and Employability Services. Defence also utilises its educational partnerships to upskill Armed Forces personnel with Further or Higher qualifications for the benefit of Defence outputs. These arrangements range from mandatory programmes aligned to specific Armed Forces roles through to voluntarily accessed personal development programmes. The Armed Forces Enhanced Learning Credits Scheme provides significant access support to those personnel voluntarily undertaking such further study. Graduate and masters’ level apprenticeships also develop higher-level skills for Defence in partnership with multiple Universities and other educational institutions. The Ministry of Defence is also part of the Defence Suppliers Framework (DSF), a collaboration with UK Defence Industries to look at the skills needed for the UK Defence Industrial Base (DIB). The DSF interfaces with academia to promote the skills the UK DIB requires from future graduates. For Defence civilians, many individual professions and functions have their own schemes, with key examples including the Future STEM scheme for Defence Science and Technology Laboratory which involves a structured sequence of placements with different partners in industry and academia; the DSUS Scheme, which is supporting students and encourage them to pursue careers in Defence, addressing recruitment for the National Cyber Force; the Defence Nuclear Enterprise Early Careers Operating Model, which will promote early career opportunities in Defence through strategic academic partnerships following planned implementation from April 2024; and participation in both the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.faststream.gov.uk/index.html) and its Summer Internship Programme: (https://www.faststream.gov.uk/summer-internship-programme/index.html).

Service Justice System Review

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2506 on Service Justice System Review (SJSR), what estimate he has made of when the SJSR recommendations that are not estimated to be completed in 2024 will be completed.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2506 on Service Justice System Review, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the remaining recommendations are implemented in a timely and effective manner.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Assisted by the organisations that deliver the Service Justice System (SJS), the SJS Review (SJSR) team will undertake an internal assessment to establish a realistic timeframe in which implementation of the remaining recommendations may be achieved. It will report ahead of the next Service Justice Executive Group (SJEG) meeting on 6 March 2024. Completion of the remaining SJSR recommendations remain a priority for Defence. A dedicated SJSR team is responsible for their delivery and is held to account by the SJEG and the Service Justice Board, which I chair. The remaining recommendations will continue to be delivered, although their greater complexity and the availability of resources to progress individual measures will be key factors in the timeliness of their delivery.

Air Force and Navy: Recruitment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5463 on Army: Recruitment, whether the (a) Royal Navy and (b) RAF operate similar internal transfer bounties.

Dr Andrew Murrison: No.

Armed Forces: Drugs

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2023 to Question 462 on Armed Forces: Drugs, how many armed forces personnel in each of the armed services were discharged after failing drugs tests in each of the last five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The requested information on Compulsory Drug Testing failures (discharges) is provided in the following table:YearRoyal NavyArmyRoyal Air Force20181406408020191306604020209041040202113058060202217070080 The figures provided are single Service estimates to the nearest 10 based on data which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. The figures provided may therefore be subject to data quality issues affecting their accuracy.

Ministers: Departmental Coordination

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide a list of the Inter-Ministerial Groups in which Ministers in his Department sit.

Dr Andrew Murrison: In the past twelve months, Ministers, including the Secretary of State for Defence, have represented the Department at Inter Ministerial Groups ranging from regular meetings on Shipbuilding and Levelling Up, to more topical issues such as Industrial Action and the Coronation.

Parachute Regiment: Recruitment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5463 on Army: Recruitment, when did the internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment begin.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5463 on Army: Recruitment, how long does the British Army intend to continue the internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5463 on Army: Recruitment, what was the (a) workforce requirement and (b) actual number of serving personnel in the Parachute Regiment in each year since 2010.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5463 on Army: Recruitment, how many personnel have taken the current internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment since it was implemented.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5463 on Army: Recruitment, how much the Army has budgeted to pay for internal transfer bounties to the Parachute Regiment in the 2023-24 financial year.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment has been in place since 15 November 2023 and will be in place until 31 March 2025 or until the allocated number of bounties have been taken up. Since 15 November, one person has completed training and 12 are in training to pass selection in the new year. £150,000 has been budgeted in financial year 2023-24 to pay for these bounties. The below table shows the strength of the Parachute Regiment between 2010-23. I am however withholding the workforce requirement as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Army.  Year as at 01 April 2023Total Strength20102,29020112,22020122,25020132,28020142,20020152,22020162,20020172,29020182,20020192,23020202,24020212,26020222,11020232,110 Source: Analysis (Army)Notes/Caveats: The figures are for the Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but include those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP. Figures include Other Ranks regardless of Training status and Officers who have completed Phase 1 Training. Personnel joining the commissioning course at RMAS are not assigned an Arm/Service until completion of the course and are therefore not included in the above. Figures have been rounded to 10 though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example, a value of ‘25’ would be rounded down to ‘20’ and a value of ‘15’ would be rounded up to ‘20’.

Department for Education

Children: Transgender People

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral contribution in response to the question from the hon. Member for Ipswich of 6 December 2023, Official Report, column 373, when she plans to publish guidance on gender-questioning children.

Damian Hinds: On 19 December 2023, the government published draft guidance for schools and colleges in England on gender questioning children. The consultation will remain open until 12 March 2024.The draft guidance and the consultation document can be found here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/equalities-political-impartiality-anti-bullying-team/gender-questioning-children-proposed-guidance/.

Teachers: Retirement

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of secondary schools teachers retiring early.

Damian Hinds: There are now over 468,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the school workforce census began in 2010.The department is taking action to support teachers to stay in the profession and thrive. The department accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders, meaning teachers and leaders in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%. This is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years.The department has also launched a new and updated suite of national professional qualifications for teachers and school leaders at all levels to help teachers to continuously develop their expertise throughout their careers so that every child, in every classroom, and in every school gets the best start in life.Staff wellbeing is crucial to the department’s commitment to recruit and retain more teachers and support teacher quality. The department has made available a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing including launching the education staff wellbeing charter, which the department are encouraging schools to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. Further information on the charter is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.The department has also convened a workload reduction taskforce to explore how the department can go further to support trust and school leaders to minimise workload for teachers and leaders.The department are also looking at how flexible working opportunities can be expanded and promoted in schools to help recruit, retain and motivate teachers and leaders. The department has worked with school leaders and other sector experts to publish non-statutory guidance, case studies, and a flexible working toolkit. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit.These measures are aimed not only at helping more teachers to remain in the classroom, but for them to thrive in their careers.

Schools: Electronic Cigarettes

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to help teachers reduce vaping in classrooms.

Damian Hinds: Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises. The department supports head teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools. To support schools to do so, the department has strengthened the Behaviour in Schools guidance which is the primary source of help and support for schools on developing and implementing a behaviour policy that can create a school culture which has high expectations of all pupils. This guidance outlines effective strategies that will encourage good behaviour and the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, including vaping anywhere in school.Schools have the autonomy to decide which items should be banned from their premises, and these can include e-cigarettes or vapes. School staff can search pupils for banned items as outlined in the department’s searching, screening and confiscation guidance available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation.On 1 June 2023, the Prime Minister announced an intervention which will take steps to prevent children obtaining e-cigarettes illegally. The government consulted on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children. The consultation response will be published in the coming weeks.The department is planning to include a specific reference to the dangers of e-cigarettes in the amended relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum. The RSHE statutory guidance sets out the curriculum topics and already states that in primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks. This includes smoking, alcohol use, and drug taking. To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the department published a suite of teacher training modules, including drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes. The RSHE statutory guidance is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

Schools: Northumberland

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in (a) Wansbeck constituency and (b) Northumberland require essential maintenance work as of 14 December 2023; and what estimate her Department has made of the total cost of that work.

Damian Hinds: Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided (VA) bodies. The department supports them by providing access to annual capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes, and offering guidance and support.Responsible bodies in England, depending on their size and type, are either eligible to receive annual School Condition Allocation (SCA) funding to use on improving the condition of their schools, or are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) each year for specific capital projects. Schools in England also receive funding to spend on their capital priorities or contribute to larger projects through an annual Devolved Formula Capital allocation (DFC). Details on SCA, CIF, and DFC can be found on GOV.UK.In the 2023/24 financial year, Northumberland County Council, which includes Wansbeck constituency, has been allocated £3,901,192 of SCA funding. It is for Northumberland to allocate this funding across its maintained schools based on local knowledge of condition need, prioritising keeping schools safe and operational. Academies and VA schools in Northumberland will have either received SCA funding through their trust or VA group or will instead have been invited to bid into the CIF for their condition need. Outcomes for CIF for 2023/24 are published on GOV.UK.Local authority schools in Northumberland have also been allocated a total of £594,962 in Devolved Formula Capital in 2023/24 to spend on their own capital priorities. SCA and DFC allocations for 2023/24 are published on GOV.UK.In addition to condition capital funding, the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) will transform buildings at 500 schools in Engand over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition and with evidence of potential safety issues. The department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022. The programme includes Ringway Primary School in the Wansbeck constituency.

Schools: Blockchain and Non-fungible Tokens

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve awareness of (a) blockchains and (b) Non-Fungible Tokens in schools.

Damian Hinds: Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed. Pupils receive financial education through the National Curriculum for mathematics and citizenship which, for secondary school-aged pupils, includes compulsory content covering the functions and uses of money, financial products and services, and the need to understand financial risk.Schools have flexibility over how they design their curricula, and can tailor it to the needs of their pupils.The Money and Pensions Service (MaPs) published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England in November 2021 to support school leaders to enhance their financial education provision.The department will continue to work closely with the MaPs and other stakeholders such as HM Treasury to support the teaching of financial education to children and young people, including novel financial products.

Schools: Inspections

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted inspections have been paused due to headteacher distress in each of the last 3 years.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints her Department has received about the conduct of Ofsted inspectors during school inspections in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds: Matters concerning the pausing of school inspections and the consideration of complaints about the conduct of inspectors are for Ofsted, which is a separate non-ministerial department and independent inspectorate.The department does not collect specific data on correspondence received that refers to the conduct of inspectors.I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member, the Member for Harrow West, directly on these matters and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Special Educational Needs: County Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5246 on Special Educational Needs: County Durham, what interim support is available to families waiting for an Education, Health and Care plan to be issued.

David Johnston: Durham County Council publish information on their Local Offer outlining what support is available for children, young people and their families in County Durham. This information is available here: https://www.durham.gov.uk/localoffer. The Durham Local offer outlines Durham’s approach to Special Education Needs and Disabilities in schools and the graduated approach.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce absence rates of pupils in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.

Damian Hinds: Improving attendance is one of the department’s top priorities. The department has published guidance encouraging all schools and local authorities to adopt the practices of the most effective schools. The ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.All schools are now expected to publish an attendance policy and appoint an attendance champion. Local authorities are expected to meet termly with schools to agree individual plans for at risk children. The department’s attendance hubs now support 800 primary, secondary and special schools benefiting over 400,000 pupils.The department has also launched a £2.32 million attendance mentor pilot which aims to deliver intensive one to one support to persistently and severely absent pupils in 5 Priority Education Investment Areas.To help identify children at risk of persistent absence, and to enable early intervention, the department has established a timelier flow of pupil level attendance data through the daily attendance data collection. 87% of state-funded schools subscribe to the tool to spot at risk pupils.Across all phases, around 380,000 fewer pupils were persistently absent or not attending school in 2022/23 than in 2021/22. Daily data for 2022/23 show secondary school absence of 9.3%, down from 10.0% absent or not attending school for Covid related reasons in 2021/22. For primary schools, daily data for 2022/23 show absence of 6.0%, down from 7.0% absent or not attending school for Covid related reasons in 2021/22.

Special Educational Needs: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Administration on SEN teaching provision in Northern Ireland.

David Johnston: Education is a devolved matter and therefore, England and Northern Ireland have different systems for supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Officials in the Department for Education and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland keep in regular touch about SEND policy, sharing information about developments and good practice.My right hon. Friend, The Secretary of State for Education, has not recently had such contact with the Northern Ireland Administration.

Schools: Wansbeck

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were unable to get a place at their catchment school for (a) primary and (b) secondary education in Wansbeck constituency in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Damian Hinds: The department does not hold information on the criteria under which school places are offered or refused, such as being within catchment area. The administration of the coordinated offer process, by which school applications are processed and offers made, are the responsibility of the local authorities.

Special Educational Needs: Standards

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) quantitative and (b) qualitative data is used by Ofsted inspectors to assess the adequacy of SEND provision in schools.

Damian Hinds: This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector. I have asked the Chief Inspector to write to my hon. Friend, the Member for Ipswich directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Schools: Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185868 on Air Pollution: Schools, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the minimum filter class from BS EN 13779.

Damian Hinds: The department’s guidance, ‘Building Bulletin 101: Ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality’, refers to BS EN 13779 (Ventilation for non-residential buildings: performance requirements for ventilation and room-conditioning systems) as additional guidance specifically on filtration, which describes how minimum filtration classes can be applied to schools. BS EN 13779 is owned by the British Standards Institute and the department has not made any specific tests in relation to this standard.

Schools: Birmingham

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of children getting a place at their preferred school in Birmingham.

Damian Hinds: Local authorities have a statutory duty, under Section 14 of the Education Act 1996, to ensure that there are sufficient primary and secondary school places for all children living in their area, with a view to securing diversity of provision and increasing opportunities for parental choice and special educational provision for pupils who have Special Educational Needs. The department’s Pupil Place Planning Advisers engage with local authorities on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, they offer support and advice. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places. This funding is based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. Local authorities can use the funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools.   The funding is not ringfenced, subject to the conditions set out in the published Grant Determination Letter, nor is it time bound, meaning local authorities are free to use this funding to best meet their local priorities.   The department has announced Birmingham City Council will receive just over £51 million to support the provision of new school places needed between May 2022 and September 2026, paid across the 2022/23 and 2025/26 financial years. This takes their total funding allocated between 2011 and 2026 to just over £345.7 million.

Teachers: Degrees

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating universities to award honorary teaching degrees to people who gained a certificate of education from teacher training colleges prior to the year 2000.

Damian Hinds: The department does not have degree awarding powers and is therefore not in a position to award honorary teaching degrees. The award of degrees can only be made by institutions with degree-awarding powers.

Teachers: Birmingham Hall Green

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of difficulties in the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency.

Damian Hinds: The most recent School workforce census shows that, as at November 2022, there are over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010. Teacher numbers at a school level are published in the additional supporting files. This can be found in the School workforce census 2022 publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england#dataBlock-d32da738-358d-4c1f-955b-6c6f83552d65-tables. The department also produces national targets for postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) for each subject based on estimates from the Teacher Workforce Model to ensure focus on the right subjects each year. These are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets. The department knows that some schools face challenges with recruitment and retention, particularly in some secondary subjects, and action is being taken to increase teacher recruitment and retention. The department is offering a financial incentives package worth up to £196 million for those starting ITT in the 2024/25 academic year, including bursaries worth up to £28,000 and scholarships worth up to £30,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing. The department is also offering a £25,000 tax-free bursary for biology, design and technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages), and a £10,000 tax-free bursary for English, art and design, music and RE. The department is providing a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within education investment areas (EIAs). For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be investing approximately £100 million each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. This builds on knowledge gained from similar pilots and will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most. There are 97 schools in the Birmingham local authority area eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, including nine schools in the Birmingham, Hall Green constituency. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers. Earlier this year the department accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%. This is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years and delivers the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers across England. To support teacher retention across all school phases, the department has published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing. This includes the workload reduction toolkit and the education staff wellbeing charter. More than 3,000 schools have signed up to the wellbeing charter so far. The wellbeing charter can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. The workload reduction toolkit is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit. As part of the pay announcement for 2023/24, the department also convened a workload reduction taskforce to explore how to further support trusts and school leaders to minimise workload.

Educational Institutions: Discrimination

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to respond to reports of increases in the number of incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia in (a) schools, (b) universities and (c) other educational settings.

Damian Hinds: It has been deeply concerning to see the rises both in antisemitism and in Islamophobia since the 7 October terrorist attacks against Israel. All education settings have a legal duty of care to safeguard and protect the welfare of all children and students; and must have regard to equalities legislation and comply with relevant provisions under the Equality Act 2010.Every school and further education provider, including independent and faith schools, should actively promote the shared values, including mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs. The department has published advice on promoting these values and made resources available on challenging antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.The department has also published the Preventing and Tackling Bullying guidance, which directs schools to organisations who can provide support with tackling bullying related to race, religion and nationality. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying. The department is providing over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024 to five anti-bullying organisations, which includes projects to tackle hate-related bullying on the basis of race and faith.In the Autumn Statement, on 22 November 2023, the government has announced a further £7 million of funding over the next three years to help tackle antisemitism in education, and to ensure support is in place for schools, colleges, and universities to understand, recognise and deal with antisemitism effectively.In universities the department is working to introduce a Tackling Antisemitism Quality Seal, which will be awarded to providers who’ve shown leadership and excellent practice in their approach to antisemitism. A five-point plan has been set out that both the department and university leaders should take to strengthen our support for Jewish students. The plan is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/11/05/how-were-protecting-jewish-students-on-university-campuses/. The department also welcomes guidance produced by Universities UK, which focuses on tackling anti-Muslim hatred available at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/tackling-islamophobia-and-anti-muslim.The department continues to engage both with Jewish and with Muslim groups, including the Union of Jewish Students and Tell MAMA, and is actively assessing incidents affecting both communities. Where there are serious concerns, departmental officials have reached out to providers to understand what actions have been taken.

Free School Meals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question198717 on Free School Meals, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that schools continue to be able to provide healthy meals; and what discussions his Department has had with schools on whether they can provide these meals within the agreed budgets.

Damian Hinds: The department spends over £1 billion on the provision of free meals. Schools currently attract £480 annually through the free school meals (FSM) factor of the national funding formula, in respect of FSM-eligible pupils. This is increasing to £490 in 2024/25.In addition to this, schools are currently plaid a meal rate of £2.53 to support the provision of Universal infant FSM.The department continues to keep funding under review and regularly meet with stakeholders to monitor issues in this sector, including food industry representatives, school leaders and pupils.Further to this, the department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools through ‘The Requirements for School Food Regulations’ (2014), which require schools to provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. These regulations are available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made.The school food standards restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. Compliance with the school food standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, academies and free schools.

Ministry of Justice

Custodial Treatment

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by the College of Policing Report entitled Imprisonment and other custodial sanctions, published on 30 November 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of custodial sanctions on imprisonment statistics.

Gareth Bacon: The College of Policing Report entitled ‘Imprisonment and other custodial sanctions’ looks at the relationship between custodial sentences and reoffending. The findings are in line with a 2019 Ministry of Justice study entitled ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on reoffending’. Both studies found that offenders given custodial sanctions are more likely to reoffend compared to those given non-custodial sanctions. For some lower-level offenders, suspended and community sentences may be more effective for rehabilitation. In these cases, short custodial sentences may even entrench an offender in criminality, cutting them off from employment and community connection.The data for 2020/21 shows that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than twelve months are cautioned or convicted for further crimes within 12 months of release. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements, the reoffending rate is much lower at 24%.The Government recently introduced the Sentencing Bill, which includes a duty on the courts to suspend custodial sentences of twelve months or less. The courts will retain a wide discretion to impose immediate custody in many circumstances.

Knives: Crime

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted for knife crime in England since January 2020.

Gareth Bacon: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions for criminal offences, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool. This information can be further broken down by offence group and specific offences using the appropriate filters (for knife crime offences, select ‘10D Possession of article with blade or point’ in the Offence filter). To see prosecutions for England only, Welsh police force areas (Dyfed Powys, Gwent, North Wales, South Wales) can be deselected from the appropriate filter.

Domestic Abuse: Sentencing

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the sentencing framework for perpetrators of coercive control.

Gareth Bacon: The sentencing framework is kept under constant review by the Government. However, sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent courts in accordance with the sentencing guidelines, developed by the independent Sentencing Council.The Government created the offence of Controlling and Coercive Behaviour in the Serious Crime Act 2015. Since the offence came into force in 2016, the number of people sentenced for this offence has consistently increased, nearing tenfold. The average custodial sentence length has also increased from 17.1 to 24.4 months.In response to the independent Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review undertaken by Clare Wade KC, we have introduced legislation to create new statutory aggravating and mitigating factors for murders preceded by controlling and coercive behaviour.The Sentencing Council have recently consulted on making a similar change to the manslaughter sentencing guideline. The Council have also introduced the Domestic Abuse Overarching Principles guideline, which came into force in May 2018. It identifies the principles relevant to the sentencing of cases involving domestic abuse, including the offence of controlling and coercive behaviour. The Council is planning to review this guideline in 2024.

Sexual Offences: Trials

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the time it takes for (a) sexual offences and (b) other criminal offences to reach trial.

Mike Freer: The data on the time taken from offence to completion for all cases is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Timeliness data is available for sexual offences and other criminal offences at the link below in the ‘Crown Court timeliness tool’ and ‘End-to-end timeliness tool’: Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) We remain committed to reducing the Crown Court caseload and have invested a significant amount of extra money for the Criminal Justice System to help improve waiting times for victims of crime. We have introduced a raft of measures to achieve that aim, including opening extra courtrooms and funding over 100,000 sitting days last year, with plans to deliver the same again this year. We are investing £220 million for essential modernisation of our court buildings over the next two years as well as investing in judicial recruitment, so that we expect to recruit more than 1,000 judges across all jurisdictions by the end of 2023/2024. We are working closely with the judiciary and other partners to improve the experience of court users. We have quadrupled funding for victims’ services so victims get the support they need throughout the process. Judges prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, and seek to ensure that domestic abuse, serious sex cases and those with vulnerable witnesses are listed at the first available opportunity.

Sexual Offences: Trials

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to reduce the number of cases of sexual offences waiting to be heard in the crown court.

Mike Freer: We remain committed to reducing the Crown Court caseload and are working closely with the judiciary and other partners to improve the experience of court users. We have introduced a raft of measures to achieve that aim, including funding over 100,000 sitting days last year and planning to deliver the same again this year. We are investing £220 million for essential modernisation of our court buildings over the next two years as well as investing in judicial recruitment, so that we expect to recruit more than 1,000 judges by the end of 2023/2024.We have invested a significant amount of extra money for the Criminal Justice System to help improve waiting times for victims of crime. We have opened extra courtrooms, and continued hearings, alongside quadrupling funding for victims’ services so victims get the support they need throughout the process. Judges prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, and seek to ensure that domestic abuse, serious sex cases and those with vulnerable witnesses are listed at the first available opportunity.In June 2022, we announced our Specialist Sexual Violence Support (SSVS) project in three Crown Courts, to improve the support on offer in court for victims of rape and improve timeliness of cases going through the system. This includes trauma-informed training for all staff at courts who come into contact with victims, improved facilities and technology, and at least one Case Coordinator at each court.

Criminal Cases Review Commission

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission have been referred to the Court of Appeal, in each year since the Criminal Cases Review Commission was established.

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission have involved (a) new arguments, (b) new evidence and (c) neither in each year since the Criminal Cases Review Commission was established.

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many referrals by the Criminal Cases Review Commission have (a) solely and (b) in part utilised the exceptional circumstances grounds provided for in section 13 (2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 in each year since the Criminal Cases Review Commission was established.

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what has been the average referral rate for the Criminal Cases Review Commission in each year since it was established.

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases has the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred to the Court of Appeal following an investigation that has revealed police (a) corruption and (b) malpractice in each year since the Criminal Cases Review Commission was established.

Laura Farris: The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), funded by the Ministry of Justice, functions as an independent body, making decisions autonomously and without ministerial influence. Recognising the need to increase the size of its caseworker team and to carry out more outreach work with people who may need their services, the department has increased funding year on year of CCRC since 2020-21 with the budget for 2023-24 set at just under £8m.In the period from 31/3/1997 to 30/11/2023, the CCRC completed a total of 30,082 reviews and they referred 829 cases to the appellate courts (Court of Appeal and Crown Court). A breakdown of CCRC data by year is provided in table 1.The tracking of cases referred to the Court of Appeal based on a) new arguments, b) new evidence, and c) neither, has not been systematically recorded since the establishment of the CCRC in 1997. Case referrals are often a combination of both new evidence and other arguments, making it challenging for the CCRC to categorise cases exclusively into these specified criteria.The number of referrals by the CCRC utilising the exceptional circumstances grounds outlined in section 13(2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 has not been systematically documented for each year by the CCRC since its establishment. However, the CCRC are in the process of constructing a public archive for its referrals, and it is their intention to make this data available to the public in the future. It is important to note that a portion of their referrals involves cases classified as 'no appeal,' where applicants have not exhausted the standard appeal process before approaching the CCRC. In such instances, reliance on the exceptional circumstances provision in section 13(2) becomes necessary.The CCRC receive a significant number of no appeal cases, reapplications and ineligible cases. The final column in table 1 shows the referral rate as a percentage of the cases which pass the ‘triage’ stage and are allocated to a Case Review Manager for investigation.Table 1Financial yearReferralsIntakeAll Cases closedReview Cases closedReferral rate all closed casesReferral rate closed review cases only1997/98111328CCRC system data not robust enough for reporting1998/993110331999/00367752000/01457992001/02388342002/03359332003/04308842004/05459552005/06479372006/073910512007/082798410856292.49%4.29%2008/09399199425354.14%7.29%2009/10319328924683.48%6.62%2010/11229339475332.32%4.13%2011/122210408784692.51%4.69%2012/1321162512745601.65%3.75%2013/1431147011314042.74%7.67%2014/1536159916327582.21%4.75%2015/16331480179710851.84%3.04%2016/1712139715639180.77%1.31%2017/1819143915389041.24%2.10%2018/1913137114497730.90%1.68%2019/2029133414537452.00%3.89%2020/2170114211095666.31%12.37%2021/2226119811835462.20%4.76%2022/2325142412755731.96%4.36%2023/24 YTD1610719833991.63%4.01% Work on the creation of the public archive is not complete, but the CCRC anticipate it to be approximately 125 referrals that have involved police misconduct. The CCRC do not have a breakdown on the split between corruption cases and other conduct issues, such as breaches of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which governs the powers and procedures of the police in the investigation of criminal offenses.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Biofuels: HETAS and Woodsure

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2022 to Question 157261 on Biofuels: HETAS, whether any conflicts of interest have been declared by (a) Woodsure and (b) HETAS since 1 January 2022.

Amanda Solloway: Neither Woodsure nor HETAS have declared any conflicts of interest since 1 January 2022.

World War II: Medals

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what (a) medallic and (b) other recognition Bevin Boys received.

Amanda Solloway: In addition to the Bevin Badge Veterans Badge first awarded by the Government in 2008, a Bevin Boys Commemorative Medal has been commissioned by the Bevin Boys Association as their official medal. The Bevin Boys Medal is available to all former Bevin Boys called up between 1943 and 1948 or their next of kin. Full details, including how to order the Medal, can be found at https://bigburymint.com/product/bevin-boys-commemorative-medal/

Tidal Power: Finance

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to build on the last tidal stream auction for the forthcoming Allocation Round 6; and what the timescale is for publishing the final parameters for that round.

Andrew Bowie: In November 2023 the Government published the core parameters for the sixth Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round (AR). The Government is currently developing the full auction parameters for AR 6 and will publish details of the full parameters ahead of the round opening in March 2024.

Tidal Power: Finance

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department (a) plans to ringfence tidal stream in future Contracts for Difference allocation rounds and (b) has made an assessment of the impact of ringfencing budget for tidal stream on levels of private investment in that energy supply.

Andrew Bowie: Parameters for each allocation round of Contracts of Difference are set on an annual basis ahead of the round opening. They take into account evidence of the pipeline of available projects, as well as adherence to the scheme’s statutory objectives. The Government will publish details of the parameters ahead of Allocation Round 6 in March 2024.

Home Energy and Lifestyle Management: Misrepresentation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will meet the hon. Member for Newport West to discuss a complaint about the mis-selling of Green Deal loans by HELMS submitted by a constituent in 2019.

Amanda Solloway: I would invite the hon. Member to write to provide further detail on the complaint she is referring to. The Department will then be able to advise on the status of the complaint to inform the request for discussion.

World War II: Medals

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what medals Bevin Boys or their descendants are entitled to other than the Bevin Boys veterans badge.

Amanda Solloway: In addition to the Bevin Badge Veterans Badge the Bevin Boys Association commissioned a Bevin Boys Commemorative Medal as their official medal. The Bevin Boys Medal is available to all former Bevin Boys called up between 1943 and 1948 or their next of kin. Full details, including how to order the Medal, can be found at https://bigburymint.com/product/bevin-boys-commemorative-medal/

World War II: Medals

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will award a medal to those who were conscripted to become Bevin Boys.

Amanda Solloway: The Government’s Bevin Boys Veterans Badge is awarded to all Bevin Boys, whether a conscriptee or volunteer. Full details on how to apply, including the application form, can be found at https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-bevin-boys-veterans-badge

Energy Ombudsman

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) efficiency and (b) effectiveness of the (i) Energy Ombudsman and (ii) Ombudsman's complaint resolution processes; and what steps she is taking to help ensure consumers writing to the ombudsman receive comprehensive and helpful feedback and advice.

Amanda Solloway: Ofgem is responsible for certifying Alternative Dispute Resolution entities and appointing the Energy Ombudsman (EO). The EO is important for ensuring good consumer outcomes and trust by investigating disputes between suppliers and consumers. Every two years Ofgem assesses the performance of the EO to ensure they still meet the approval criteria. The latest completed assessment, covering 2019-2021 is available on Ofgem’s website. Ministers meet regularly with the EO to understand trends in consumer complaints and ensure a high-quality service.

Foreign Investment: Dispute Resolution

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the UN entitled Paying polluters: the catastrophic consequences of investor-State dispute settlement for climate and environment action and human rights, published on 13 July 2023.

Amanda Solloway: The Government takes note of the report.

Fossil Fuels

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the statement of Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance entitled Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance COP28 call to action, published on 11 December 2023.

Amanda Solloway: The UK pushed strongly for a commitment to phase out unabated fossil fuels at COP28, playing a central role in achieving an outcome that, for the first time ever, calls for a global transition away from fossil fuels. The UK is not a member of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. However, UK domestic policy on oil and gas is fully consistent with the COP28 agreement. Even with new licences, UK oil and gas production is projected to decline at 7% per year, faster than the global average rate of decline needed for a 1.5 degree pathway, according to the UN.

World War II: National Service

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department holds on the number of Bevin Boys that are alive.

Amanda Solloway: In total, between 1943 and 1948, some 48,000 men came under the Bevin Boys Scheme either through conscription or by volunteering. As the individuals were not employed by the Crown during their service, unlike those conscripted to the Armed Forces, no records were kept by the Government on their status post service.

World War II: Medals

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people have claimed a Bevin Boys Veterans Badge.

Amanda Solloway: The Department does not hold records for how many applications have been received for Bevin Boy Veterans Badges but, since 2008, around 2,500 Badges have been awarded.

World War II: Medals

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had recent discussions with the Bevin Boys Association on medallic recognition of their service in the war.

Amanda Solloway: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has not held discussions with the Bevin Boys Association.

Green Deal Scheme: Appeals

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many Green Deal Scheme appeal cases in each Scottish constituency have been waiting for a final decision for (a) six to 11 months and (b) 12 months or longer since referral.

Amanda Solloway: The numbers of complainants who have been waiting for six-to-eleven months or twelve months or longer, by Scottish Parliamentary Constituency, are as follows: Parliamentary constituencySix-to-eleven monthsTwelve months or longerAirdrie and Shotts03Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock05Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk02Central Ayrshire09Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill04Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East09East Dunbartonshire02East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow010East Lothian02East Renfrewshire02Edinburgh East02Edinburgh North and Leith02Edinburgh South02Falkirk04Glasgow Central01Glasgow East02Glasgow North05Glasgow North East08Glasgow North West04Glasgow South01Glasgow South West01Glenrothes02Inverclyde05Kilmarnock and Loudoun012Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath05Linlithgow and East Falkirk02Livingston03Midlothian01Motherwell and Wishaw03North Ayrshire and Arran04Ochil and South Perthshire01Paisley and Renfrewshire North019Rutherglen and Hamilton West010West Dunbartonshire08

Home Energy and Lifestyle Management: Green Deal Scheme

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many offers of compensation have been made by her Department to consumers as a result of mis-selling by HELMS; and how many of those offers were (a) accepted and settled and (b) rejected by consumers in favour of their original offer of compensation from the Green Deal Finance Company.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many Green Deal loan appeals in respect of HELMS her Department has received; and how many such appeals have been completed.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many intention notices her Department has issued in response to complaints about the mis-selling of Green Deal loans by HELMS; and how many intention notices remain outstanding.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many appeals to the First-tier Tribunal have been made as a result of sanction notices issued in response to complaints of Green Deal mis-selling by HELMS.

Amanda Solloway: The Department has received 348 complaints about Green Deal loans by the former Green Deal provider, Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Limited (HELMS). Intention Notices – setting out the Secretary of State’s proposed decision – have been issued in 214 cases and final decisions have been issued for 170 cases. One hundred HELMS cases are yet to pass through the intention notice stage. Following final decisions, a total of 21 decisions have been appealed to the First-tier Tribunal. Under the Green Deal Framework Regulations, the Secretary of State has the power to cancel or reduce loans where there has been a breach of the relevant rules, and she is satisfied that the consumer has suffered, or is likely to suffer, a substantive loss. Cancellation or reduction has been proposed in respect of 135 complaints about mis-selling by HELMS. There is no formal step under the Regulations of ‘accepting’ or ‘rejecting’ proposed sanctions, but affected parties may make representations in response to Intention Notices. A total of 58 have made representations in response to proposed decisions on HELMS mis-selling complaints. A small number of complaints about mis-selling by HELMS have been withdrawn but we do not hold data on the reasons why (it is not always made evident by the complainant). We therefore do not hold data on numbers of complainants who have decided to accept offers from the Green Deal Finance Company instead of pursuing their complaint with the Department.

Home Office

Fire and Rescue Services

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has had discussions with representatives of the Fire Brigades Union on the Firefighters’ Manifesto published on 1 November 2023.

Chris Philp: The Government has not met with the FBU regarding the specific document, but continues to work with our partners, including all fire unions, to push for meaningful change for the benefit of both the sector and the public.The Government is committed to reform in the fire sector and published the response to the Fire Reform White Paper on 12 December setting out plans.

Fire and Rescue Services

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of a statutory obligation requiring the fire and rescue service to respond to major flooding and other extreme weather events.

Chris Philp: Please note that fire and rescue is a devolved issue in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The Home Office is only able to comment on fire and rescue services in England.A statutory duty for firefighters to respond to flooding is unlikely to make a significant difference to the Fire and Rescue Services, which already provide effective response to flooding incidents. This has been consistently demonstrated through the excellent response of Fire and Rescue Services to a range of incidents including the flooding associated with recent Storm Babet (October 2023).The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 makes provision for Fire and Rescue Services to respond to all kinds of emergencies, without providing specific duties for each type of incident.Furthermore, the Government provides the Fire and Rescue Service with additional resource to tackle flooding via the provision of High-Volume Pumps and Water Rescue Assets. [Note: Water Rescue Assets are Defra Funded].

Members: Correspondence

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Hendon, dated 25 October 2023.

Tom Tugendhat: An answer will be provided by the ​​​Minister of State for Security in due course.

Knives: Crime

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential factors that contribute to teenage involvement in knife crime.

Chris Philp: Home Office analysts have previously produced a report examining risk factors for serious violence (including weapons carrying) based on two UK-based longitudinal surveys of young people.The report is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d36d7fa40f0b604d8e5fe4b/analysis-of-indicators-of-serious-violence-horr110.pdf

Shoplifting

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of theft from a shop of goods with a value of £200 or less being a summary-only offence on detection rates for low value shop theft.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals on a new standalone criminal offence to protect retail workers from violence and abuse.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential merits of including measures to tackle shoplifting in the Criminal Justice Bill.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of police community support officers on shoplifting charge rates in the last 10 years.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to increase the presence of police community support officers in town centres.

Chris Philp: The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any public-facing worker is never acceptable. We take this issue very seriously and recognise the implications on businesses as well as the victims.The Government took a significant step and legislated to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker via section 156 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences.We keep all legislation under review. Under section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, the shoplifting of goods of a value of £200 or less is a summary offence unless the defendant, if an adult, elects to be tried in the Crown Court. Where a summary offence is committed, the case can be handled as a police-led prosecution. There is a misconception this is used as a threshold by police forces, so that if the value of goods stolen is under £200, police will not respond. No police force has such a policy and this summary offence for shoplifting does not prevent police taking action against shoplifters.The Government has recently made significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime. In October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all police forces in England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals. This builds on the commitment made by the NPCC in August 2023 that all police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender, including shoplifting.Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are a valued part of the police workforce, as a key liaison point to help resolve local issues and foster good community relations.Decisions around recruitment and retention of PCSOs and the powers and duties they have are for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners.

Tractors: Security

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on the timetable for approving the sale of tractors with Immobilisers.

Chris Philp: The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which gained Royal Assent on the 20 July. The Act will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to new agricultural equipment such as All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes, to help prevent theft of this equipment and identify the owners of stolen equipment when it is recovered.The Act provides a power for the Secretary of State to extend the scope of the Act, via secondary legislation, to other large agricultural machinery such as tractors. The necessary secondary legislation will be brought before Parliament in due course.This legislation will make it harder for criminals to sell on stolen machinery, which will have a deterrent effect, and will have a significant impact on thefts of ATVs by breaking the current cycle of theft between farmers, insurers and manufacturers.

Hate Crime

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes were reported on the True Vision website in the last 12 months.

Chris Philp: The department does not hold data on the number of crimes reported on the True Vision website.The reports made to True Vision are sent directly to relevant police forces, as identified by the complainant and reports deemed as hate crimes are included in the force specific hate crime data.

Crime: Databases

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has for data-sharing between the (a) police national database, (b) data held by the Passport Office and (c) other national databases to help tackle crime.

Chris Philp: The Home Office is continuing its work with National Police Chiefs’ Council and law enforcement partners to facilitate access to the data sets they need to make sure the police have the tools and technology they need to solve and prevent crimes, bring offenders to justice, and keep people safe..The use of such information is limited to organisations who have a lawful reason in support of the law enforcement mission they have been tasked with performing.

Passports: Databases

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of times the HM Passport Office database has been accessed to identify suspects as part of a criminal investigation in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp: His Majesty’s Passport Office receives requests for various information from the police. The volumes of requests for any range of data that is specifically due to an active criminal investigation is not held in a reportable format.

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5034 on Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, if he will hold discussions with the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on the publication of their annual reviews for each year since 2019-20.

Chris Philp: Home Office Ministers regularly meet the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. However, as an independent Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) the publication of its annual reports is a matter for the ACMD.

Firearms: Licensing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2023 to Question 4543 on Firearms: Licensing, whether the Firearms Licensing Fees working group has completed its work.

Chris Philp: The Firearms Fees Working Group last met on 3 May 2023 when it discussed proposals for new fees. I am currently considering those proposals with Ministerial colleagues before launching a public consultation.There are no current plans for the Group to meet again but it can be reconvened if necessary.

UK Border Force: Patrol Craft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 172353 on UK Border Force: Patrol Craft, what his Department's timescales are for the formal launch of market engagement for the procurement of replacement Border Force vessels.

Tom Pursglove: Progress continues to be made on plans to procure a replacement Cutter and Coastal Patrol Vessel maritime capability for Border Force. The procurement schedule has not yet been finalised.

Police: Smart Devices

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of imported cellular internet of things modules in equipment used by police forces; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure the security of such equipment.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of imported cellular internet of things modules in equipment used by fire services; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure the security of such equipment.

Chris Philp: Each fire and rescue authority and police force is responsible for identifying and planning for the foreseeable risks in their area, including risks relating to organisational security.Operational security decisions are made independently by Fire and Police chiefs, who are consistently seeking to identify, plan for, and mitigate against reasonably foreseeable operational risks.The Government provides guidance on best practice and due diligence to the public sector, for the procurement of supplier contracts through Governments Model Services Contract Guidance.The Home Office works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in relation to the cyber security of Fire and Police Services. This includes the provision of active cyber defence services, guidance and best practice advice, and the response to cyber security.

Migrants: Health Services and Housing

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Written Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5046 on Migrants: Health Services and Housing, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of data sharing between stakeholders and local authorities; and what plans he has to improve it.

Tom Pursglove: We continue to work closely with local authorities (LAs) and share regular, timely and relevant data and Management Information in the form of heat maps to allow effective planning and understand the geographical distribution of asylum seekers in the UK.Whilst provision of healthcare is not a statutory duty or obligation for the Home Office, ensuring those in our care are sufficiently looked after and safe is the right thing to do. Home Office and health partners already collaborate with local authorities and others, to make this happen at an operational and tactical level; however, strategic oversight and shared direction have been lacking.We are building on these products and following feedback from LAs, have increased the breadth of information contained to include further details including accommodation type and demographics.In conjunction with our strategic migration partnerships, we continue to work with LA forums and other partners to understand and identify ways of managing impacts.Heatmaps are shared with local authorities to provide an indication of the number of decisions and therefore cessations that could flow through down to LA level because of the increase in decisions made this year. The data only provides a snapshot in time and is heavily caveated as it is taken from live sources and therefore has not been assured to the level that published data has been and as such there are no plans to share it with Honourable Members.

Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on the formal process by which asylum seekers (a) are notified that they should leave hotels and (b) move to other Home Office-funded accommodation.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office has always been clear that use of hotels as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers was a short-term measure to ensure that we met our statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals.The closure of individual hotels and relocation of service users to alternative accommodation is being managed in accordance with established allocation of accommodation policy and processes.Our accommodation providers will notify asylum seekers as early as possible of an upcoming hotel closure and will discuss the move with each individual and establish if there are any safeguarding, medical, or other personal circumstances which need to be considered.Asylum accommodation is generally provided on a ‘no choice’ basis and individuals will be moved to suitable alternative accommodation, which may be in a different location from their current hotel. Those whose personal circumstances necessitate accommodation in a particular location, will have their requests considered in accordance with existing published policies.

Asylum: Community Relations

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to directly consult with (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees to understand where more integration support may be required.

Tom Pursglove: All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy. Refugees (those who have been granted asylum, humanitarian protection or temporary protection under the Immigration Rules), as well as individuals on our resettlement schemes with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK; have access to mainstream benefits and services to enable their integration; and we are working across Government to ensure these services meet the needs of refugees. Integration support is coordinated by local authorities, who are best placed to support the needs of those resettled in their area. The Home Office provides local authorities with a core tariff of £20,520 per person to cover resettlement and integration costs for those who arrive via refugee resettlement schemes, including the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). This tariff can be used flexibly by the local authorities to meet the integration needs of the refugees they are supporting.

Asylum: Children

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children in temporary accommodation have been provided with healthcare support in the last 12 months.

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential trauma for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children of being housed in hotels.

Tom Pursglove: We maintain that the best place for these children to be accommodated is within local authority care. As part of the national transfer scheme, the receiving local authority must provide suitable support for all children being moved into their care, including health care, irrespective of the child’s immigration status.   Asylum seekers have access to health and social care services from the point of arrival in the UK. The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the healthcare and support they need.   The Home Office also operates a Safeguarding Hub to support vulnerable individuals in accessing these services. In addition, the Home Office contracts Migrant Help to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers should they have an issue with their accommodation or support, and for signposting to health and welfare services. Asylum seekers can access Migrant Help 24/7, every day of the year by a freephone telephone number, via an online chat, or completing an email enquiry form, both of which can be accessed free of charge on the Migrant Help website. Interpreting and translation services are available through Migrant Help when the need arises for asylum seekers to raise any queries or concerns. The information you have requested of the Home Office is not held in a reportable format.

Immigration: Personal Income

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has sought legal advice on the compatibility of the planned increase to the minimum income requirement with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.

Tom Pursglove: Full legal advice has been sought on the compatibility of the proposed increase to the Minimum Income Requirement element of the family immigration rules with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as enshrined in domestic legislation in the Human Rights Act 1998.

Visas: Families

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to this Oral Statement of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, if he will publish the evidential basis that increasing the salary threshold for family visas will achieve its policy objectives.

Tom Pursglove: Investigative work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process; analysis will be published in due course.

Visas: Graduates

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans that the review of the two year post study work visa will be complete.

Tom Pursglove: We will confirm the timings of the review in due course.

Asylum: Community Relations

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help asylum seekers to integrate into their local communities.

Tom Pursglove: This Government’s priority is to focus our efforts and resources to support those who most need it. As not all of those who seek asylum are found to need international protection, integration resources are available to those granted permission to stay. Under the New Plan for Immigration, the Government committed to offering an enhanced integration package for refugees arriving through safe and legal routes.

Visas: China

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 5400 on Visas: China, what the average waiting time for an appointment at a UK Visa Application Centre in China was in each of the last 12 months.

Tom Pursglove: The global service level is for UK visa appointments to be available within five working days. The average Visa Application Centre (VAC) appointment wait times for China for the last 12 months were:MonthAverage Wait time for China  (in days)Dec-223Jan-233Feb-233Mar-233Apr-233May-233Jun-234Jul-234Aug-234Sep-233Oct-233Nov-233

Visas: Sudan

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of visas submitted to the Visa Application Centre in Khartoum before its closure in April have not been processed.

Tom Pursglove: We do not routinely publish visa application data by Visa Application Centre location. Entry Clearance Visas - Summary Tables for year ending September 2023 can be found here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) We continue to assist customers applying from Sudan by offering flexibility with arranging appointments, collection of passports from third country VAC locations or courier of passports to third country residential addresses.

UK Border Force: Smart Devices

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of imported cellular internet of things modules in equipment used by the Border Force; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure the security of such equipment.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office manages the ongoing cyber security assurance of its live IT services, products, and assets through a range of mechanisms including Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA's), Governance Security Document (GSD's) and processes such as Secure by Design (SBD) and GovAssure.These provide operational delivery teams, including the Border Force, confidence in these IT services whilst ensuring they continue to meet cyber security requirements within the department’s risk tolerances.Managing the cyber security risks associated with the department’s supply chain is carried out through regular risk management of external vendors, suppliers, logistics and transportation both pre and post procurement.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan households who arrived in the UK under Operation Warm Welcome remain in interim hotels under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

Tom Pursglove: The UK has made one of the largest commitments of any country to support those impacted by events in Afghanistan.The last publication of Afghan Resettlement Operational data released on the 30 September 2023 (updated on 23 November 2023) shows the following: 1,674 people, around half of whom are children, were living in interim accommodation (i.e., hotels/serviced accommodation) at the end of September 2023. This number changes frequently as those within interim move into settled accommodation.For more information on individuals within interim accommodation, including nationality, age and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables. We are unable to provide a running commentary on interim accommodation occupation. The next release of Afghan Operational Data is scheduled for around the 22 February 2024.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the new earnings threshold for skilled worker visa applications, including spousal and dependent applications, will come into effect; and whether it will apply to (a) existing applications, (b) renewals and (c) people already living in the UK.

Tom Pursglove: Until the Immigration Rules are amended next Spring, the current salary and Minimum Income Requirement thresholds, and policies relating to dependants, remain in place and at the current levels. Those already in the Skilled work route, and applications made before the rules change, will not be subject to the new £38,700 salary threshold when they change employment, extend, or settle. Full details of transitional provisions will be set out in due course when further policy details will be announced.

Immigration: Families

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family reunion decisions did not meet the 60 working days service standard in 2023.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family reunion applications have not been processed as of 14 December 2023.

Tom Pursglove: The Government’s refugee family reunion policy provides a safe and legal route to bring families together. Information regarding processing times and nationality of applicants is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications. We are reviewing processes to streamline decision making to enable us to provide a better service to our customers.

Visas: Religious Persons

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a temporary work religious worker visa were not approved by his Department in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken to process an application for a temporary work religious worker visa (a) overall and (b) under the priority service scheme was in each of the last three years.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the average time taken by UK Visas and Immigration to respond to emails about applications for temporary work religious worker visas in each of the last 12 months.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in his Department are involved in processing applications for temporary work religious worker visas as of 14 December 2023.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of people with a temporary work religious worker visa who overstayed their visa in each of the last three years.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office does not publish data that would cover this request.

Immigration Controls: English Language

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking with English-language testing organisations to help ensure that people coming to (a) study and (b) settle in the UK have attained an International English Language Testing System for UK Visas and Immigration score of at least 5.5 or equivalent.

Tom Pursglove: English proficiency levels are defined within the Immigration Rules relevant to each immigration route. Home Office commercial arrangements with our secure English language testing suppliers require all tests to meet the requirements of the relevant Immigration Rules.

Northern Ireland Office

Transport: Northern Ireland

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of Northern Ireland's transport budget.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Transport is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. It is for the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure to make decisions on transport-related funding and spending decisions.As I set out in my Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 27 April, Northern Ireland Office officials and I have worked intensively with the Northern Ireland departments to set a budget for Northern Ireland for the 2023-24 financial year. This year's budget allocation from the UK Government gave the Northern Ireland Department of Infrastructure a total allocation of £523 million.It remains our firm view that the right people to make these decisions are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly. That is why this Government is doing all it can to engage with the party leaders to support a return to stable government so that these important issues can be addressed by those elected to do so.

Department for Transport

Shipping: EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What recent assessment he has made of the financial impact of the introduction of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 1 January 2024 on operators of (a) cargo and (b) passenger ships over 5,000 gross tonnage on routes between UK ports and ports in (i) the Netherlands, (ii) Belgium, (iii) France, (iv) Spain, (v) Denmark, (vi) Germany and (vii) other EU member states.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential organisational impact of the introduction of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 1 January 2024 on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he last met representatives of the shipping industry to discuss the operation of Emissions Trading Schemes in the maritime sector.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on the (a) recording and (b) pricing of emissions from (i) cargo and (ii) passenger ships registered on the UK Ship Register.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on the (a) recording and (b) pricing of emissions from (i) cargo and (ii) passenger ships working from UK ports and registered in (A) EU member and (B) non-EU states.

Guy Opperman: The expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to domestic maritime is currently planned from 2026. Officials across the UK ETS Authority have been regularly engaging across the maritime sector ahead of the next consultation on expansion of the UK ETS to domestic maritime. My officials met with industry bodies as recently as three weeks ago, and will continue to do so both ahead of, and following, the publication of the next consultation on the expansion of the UK ETS. The EU ETS meanwhile will apply to all cargo and passenger vessels over 5000GT operating within the European Economic Area (EEA) and internationally to the EEA from 1 Jan 2024. We have no plans to make a full assessment of this EU ETS scheme, it will impact all nations going to the EEA equally. The amount of in-scope emissions that allowances must be surrendered will increase from 40% in 2024, increasing to 70% in 2025, and 100% in 2026. The EU ETS will initially cover carbon dioxide emissions and be widened to include methane and nitrous oxide from 2026. We will continue to monitor developments of international and regional carbon pricing instruments covering shipping schemes, including the EU ETS proposal, and consider how these might interact with our domestic policy in the future. This will be applied equally to all operators travelling internationally to the EEA. The EU ETS is not expected to have any organizational impact on the MCA.

Bibby Stockholm

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Home Department on the (a) maritime registration, (b) crewing levels and (c) maritime safety standards on the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge.

Guy Opperman: The Secretary of State for Transport has not had any recent discussions with the Home Office on this matter, as DfT is not responsible for oversight of the Bibby Stockholm.

Freight: Finance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the total value of waterborne freight grants made to operators of (a) coastal and (b) short sea shipping services in each financial year from 2014-15 to 2022-23.

Guy Opperman: No Waterborne Freight Grant award was made in the periods requested.

Shipping: Freight

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of (a) employment and (b) welfare standards for seafarers employed in transporting freight on (i) coastal and (ii) short sea shipping services.

Guy Opperman: The UK has a leading global role in protecting and promoting seafarer welfare and employment standards. We have passed the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023, designed to prevent seafarers working aboard ships operating a regular service from a UK port from being paid less than an equivalent to the UK National Minimum Wage while in UK territorial waters. Our Seafarers’ Charter goes further, committing signatory companies to provide employment and welfare conditions a meaningful step above the international minimum standards. This expands the social welfare entitlements of eligible seafarers, prevents voyage contracts, and requires that roster patterns take into account factors including route intensity, fatigue and welfare.We are pleased that operators DFDS, Stena Line, Brittany Ferries and Condor have committed to work to meet those standards and encourage other companies to do so.

Aviation: Freight

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is planning to reform the slot allocation process to support air cargo operators.

Anthony Browne: The Government published a consultation on 4 December on airport slot allocation system reform. The consultation includes proposals to make the system more efficient, dynamic and transparent and is designed to balance the interests of both airports and airlines, including air cargo operators. The consultation is open until 8 March 2024 and we welcome views from all stakeholders.

Night Flying: Regulation

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is developing new regulations on night flying.

Anthony Browne: The current night flight restrictions set by Government at Gatwick, Heathrow, and Stansted Airports expire in October 2025. We intend to consult during early 2024 on proposals for the next night flight regime, following a consultation earlier this year on night-time noise abatement objectives for these airports.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Power Failures

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether there have been any power cuts on their Department's property in each of the last three years.

Andrew Griffith: The Department does not keep an official record of the occurrence of power cuts.The Government Property Agency (GPA) is responsible for managing the Department’s office estate, including the provision of utilities and maintenance of the building. The Department’s Estates Team officials work closely with GPA to ensure that any power supply issues that do occur are quickly addressed.